Best Enemies Forever
by Puck's Favourite Girl
Summary: Richard and Kori have hated each other since middle school. Now in their junior year,with danger and villains lurking around every corner, will they finally learn to love? S/R R/BB C/B CURRENTLY UNDERGOING REWRITE! Check my profile for the new version as this one, even though it's finished is not as good as it could be. Best Enemies Forever Rewrite is on my profile.
1. Start the Day

**Disclaimer, not my characters, yet.**

**This is my first story with chapters, so tell me what you think. Hope you like it!**

I hate Richard Grayson, Jump City High School's famous playboy. Handsome and charming he and his best buds, Victor Stone, Garfield Logan, Rachel Roth, Wally West, Roy Harper, Karen Beecher ( Victor's girfriend),Alan Aqua and Terra Markov ruled the school. Oh please. The rest of his friends were nice enough, but Richard...that boy gets on my last damn nerve! We've known eachother since preschool, and since preschool we've hated eachother. I don't know why he hates me, I don't know why I hate him. We just do. And that's that.

Today was the first day of our Junior year and I was majorly excited. I could barely contain my squeal as I looked for the perfect outfit. Hmmm, how about this? A dark purple mini skirt and this gorgeous new off the shoulder top. Ooooh perfect! I grabbed my bag and ran down the stairs. " Mom! You're home!" I smiled and hugged her.

I had missed her over the week, my parents, Luan and Myan Anders, ran their own business and traveled a lot. I didn't usually mind since, by now, I had gotten used to it.

" Oh yes my little bumgorf, your father and I got back last night. We wanted to say hi, but you were asleep."

She handed me a buttered piece of toast and shooed me out the door, " Hurry up or you'll miss your bus."

I yelled my goodbyes and rushed out. I generally hitch a ride with my Jennifer Hex and Jade Nguyen my best friends, but Jade was on holiday and wouldn't be coming back until the day after tomorow and since her brother was the only one old enough to drive, Jenny and I were stuck on the bus. Oh joy.

" Hey Kori!" Jennifer called out to me.

" Jen!" I hugged her and appraised her outfit."

" Nice style there Jen" I told her laughing.

The thing with Jen is she comes each year with a new style. Last year was gothic, it was kind of depressing to shop with her but she made life interesting. This year she went for an Avril Lavigne look. Punk Princess. I liked it. " Thanks, took me ages to come up with it."

I shook my head and climbed up the bus, " Come on, High School awaits."

We got our shedules to find some depressing news. " Kori! We only have two classes together! History and Chemistry." she moaned.

" Oh well, maybe we'll have Jade," I consoled her and led her to homeroom. When I bumped into somebody,oh great.

" Move it Anders." a gruff voice ordered.

" Make me Grayson. I came here first."

" Oh shut up. Move it."

I refused and stood my ground. He growled and pushed me out of his way...right into the water fountain. The kid drinking squirted my shirt and widened his eyes. " Oh god, I'm so sorry." I said frantically as I heard the stupid Richard Grayson's laugh echo into my ears. He has a nice laugh I realized.** Shut up! He's an idiot and you best remember that**.

I glared at him as Wally made his way up to me. Jennifer came to stand beside me.

"Hey Kori, Jennifer," he smiled flirtatiously as Jen blushed, " Sorry about the water, Richard didn't really mean it. He says he's sorry."

I sniffed and looked over to where Richard was sitting, he was laughing and flirting with yet _another_ girl and I suddenly felt like punching something. " Oh yeah, he looks real sorry." I glowered at him.

" Hey, hey, don't take it out on me. I'm just his good looking buddy. But seriously he doesn't really mean it."

I was about to say something sarcastic when-oh dear sweet lord no. We have for homeroom...and math. Oh great. This guy's a total nutcase.

" Good morning class! Well why are you staring? Say you kids are here!"

I saw Rachel glare at him from her book and smiled, " Flowers for the glaring lady." he pulled a ridiculously scrunched up bouquet of flowers and handed it to Rachel. I laughed as she grabbed the flowers and stuffed it up his shirt. " Why you-" he started before the bell rang. History it is.

I filed in and sat next to Xavier Redd. Oooh he is handsome. " Hey Cutie."

A nickname! I silently squealed and tried to look calm and collected. " Hey Xavier, what's up?"

" Trying to live through the day, you?"

I giggled, " Same here," that minute Richard walked in, " And trying to stay away from Richard."

Xavier glared. " You know if he's bothering you..."

" No, don't do anything to him. I'll get back at him my own way. Just watch at lunch.''

" Oh, your an evil one aren't you."

" You can bet your life on it."

" Hello me duckies, are you ready for a pop quiz?"

As the class groaned I could just tell this day was going to be horrible.

**A/N So tell me, is it good so far, should I continue it? I'm not sure if it was suspensful enough, review please! :)**


	2. What if I was Wrong

Thanks to all my fabulous reviewers and here's chapter two! By the way, if anyone has any suggestions on how you want the story to go, please message me or leave a review.

As I sat in my chair, facing the most cruel of teachers, I tried to think of some amazing plan to get back at "Dick" Grayson. Sometimes, I think parents can see into the future. ( A/N no disrespect to anyone with that name or parents.) My inner babble was rudely interrupted by a mop of red hair in my face. Oh no. was in front of me twirling his ruby cane around as he asked, " Ahem, , when did the American Revolution end?"

Ummm, oh shoot. I knew I should have studied last night instead of painting my nails. " Ummm, the American Revolution ended in the year...uhhh-!"

" 1781" a smooth voice cut in.

...Richard? My jaw dropped to the floor and I'm sure my eyes popped out of my head. What was he doing? Why was he saving me from potential major embarrassment?Shouldn't he want that? I mean, he does hate me...doesn't he? The thought that he might actually like me, brought sudden warmth from my toes to face. I suddenly felt a sharp pain in my jaw as actually _used his cane_ to push my mouth back up. Oh dear sweet lord. This has to be the worst moment of my life. " No need to see your saliva ."

Someone shoot me now.

I blushed a shameful scarlet and I had the sudden urge to turn around and find Richard. Thankfully had fled the room to photo-copy something-Oh no- I needed to see him now. Giving into temptation, I turned in my seat to face Richard Grayson. Who just happened to be in the seat behind me ( WTH? how could I have NOT noticed that?)

His ebony hair was gelled up in his trademark spikes, his usual black bad-boy glasses were pushed up his nose, shielding his azure eyes. The one thing out of place on his face, was the small almost imperceptible smile. At me. Richard Grayson was smiling at me of all people. What is wrong with the world? " Hey Anders."

Hey Anders? That's it? Hell has to be freezing over. " You were nice." I said it as a fact, but if came out more of question.

" You noticed?" he asked.

" Why," I asked, " I thought you hate me."

He shrugged his shoulders and seemed to contemplate for a few moments, " Gets extra credit with the teachers."

I snorted involuntarily. " Oh please, with Mad Mod, you need a whole hell of a lot more than that to get extra credit. This guy's out to get us, I swear."

He looked mildly surprised at my outburst then chuckled. " I hate to admit it Anders-" at that exact moment burst through the doors " Get ready for your pop quiz me duckies! All about how America should never exist and Britain is the best!"

I turned back in my seat and glanced at Xavier, wanting to share an eye-roll and maybe a sarcastic comment. When I saw his face. His face, usually warm and smiling was icy in comparison. His normally blue eyes looked like hail in a snowstorm, his formerly grinning mouth was twisted in a sneer. His face had hardened and the vibe I got from him scared me more badly than anything I've ever seen before. He looked like he wanted to hurt someone. I mean really hurt someone.

More precisely, Richard. He was glaring at Richard with a frightening intensity, while Richard stared blissfully at his Ipod. The reality that Richard could get severely hurt hit me like a slap in the face administered by Victor Stone. I realized that I didn't want Richard to get hurt. Life with Grayson seemed...dismal to say the least.

As much as it frightened me to do so, I reached my hand out to touch Xavier's shoulder, hoping to calm him down or, or, something. However, the minute my hand reached out, the new Xavier dissapeared and the old one came back, " I can't believe we're getting a pop quiz! Although what can you expect from Mod huh?"

The shock froze my hand mid-air as I tried to comprehend what in the world was going on. My comprehending was once again interrupted by handing out quizzes and the sound of " Miss. Anders, physical touching in class is highly prohibited. How many times must I speak to you in one day?"

The laughter reverberated throughout the classroom, but I didn't pay any mind. Xavier was still looking at me, waiting for a comment or something from me. I couldn't think. What should I say? Come on!

For once in my life, I was glad tapped his cane on the desk and announced that test time has started and to hurry up if you value your lunchtime.

As I started my quiz, my mind wandered. Maybe Xavier's expression meant nothing. Maybe I had imagined it. Maybe I was over-reacting. My brain was on overdrive thinking up of excuses for Xavier. Besides, why should I worry about Richard anyway? Xavier was my friend and I'm sure that he wouldn't hurt Richard, not that I should worry about him anyway. Over the years, Richard's been nothing but cruel to me. He doesn't deserve worry from anyone, least of all me.

So then why am I still biting my nails in anxiety? I took a deep breath. In and out Kori, in and out. Xavier is a sweet kid you've known since grade seven. Richard's the kid form preschool who's been your mortal enemy since. I sighed in satisfaction as I finished the last question, Richard was bad, Xavier was good. That's how it always was. That's how it would stay.

Kori Anders hated change. Absolutely _**hated**_ change. If the roles of the two major boys in her life switched she'd have no idea what to do.

She groaned in her hands. Why did high school have to be so damn complicated? As the bell rang there was only thought in her head.

What if it wasn't nothing.

Richard could get hurt...and it would all be her fault.


	3. We Have a Friendship Connection

**Hi everyone! Sorry I haven't updated in a while, I've just been busy, here ya have it with everyone's favorite evil villain**

* * *

As I walked to my chemistry class I was deep in thought. I was the type of girl who liked to look on the bright side of things. I hated to be gloomy and I rarely ever got mad. Although when I did...Jennifer and Jade knew to just hand over the ice cream and magazines meekly and patiently wait until I was ready to blow up about why I was mad. Thankfully, that was a rare occurrence. I shook my head and sighed.

I needed caffeine, and lots of it. I closed my tired emerald eyes and rubbed my temples in slow circular motions...when I accidentally, sort of, kind of bumped into the Most Likely Person to End the World, ( quoted from our High School yearbook in our freshman year.) Rachel Roth. Oops.

" Oh my god! I'm really sorry Rachel! Are you okay?" I asked frantically.

I hated it when people got hurt, especially if I had caused it. She looked up at me with a sort of curious surprise. " Why are you being...nice to me?" she asked, kind of accusingly.

I was shocked. Why wouldn't I be nice to her? I pride myself in always helping others no matter how bad they are on the outside. I believe that everybody has a little bit of goodness somewhere in their hearts. Everyone deserves a chance. " Why wouldn't I help you? You're a person. And when I knock people down I like to help to them to apologize for them being on the floor in the first place." I finished with a smile.

I knew that what I had said sounded a little odd, but my thoughts were a little odd at the moment. Damn Richard. Damn Xavier...my inner bashing of the two idiot boys was interrupted once again by Rachel. " Well yeah, but I'm Rachel Roth. Goth queen? Ice Princess? Rude? Sarcastic? Most people hate me. And if people hate Richard, me by association. Don't you hate me for being friends with him?"

The bell had already rang and sophomores and juniors were filing into their classes, loud chatter and laughs faded into closed doors.

But I didn't care. Her question had really bothered me. " Why would I hate you just because you're friends with Richard? You're your own person. So what if you like him and he likes you? It doesn't matter. As to your other question, why should I care if you are a goth or a punk? It doesn't really matter, if people hate you they are missing out." I smiled at her and was surprised to see a small indistinguishable smile on the lavender haired girl.

Rachel opened her mouth to speak when the Junior's French teacher, who just so happened to have an accent thicker than caramel, Mme. Rouge, stalked toward them in her black stilettos and asked, (A/N/ just think of her accent, and ignore my poor attempts.)" Just vhat do you think you vhare doing?

I stuttered and whimpered slightly. Mme. Rouge has always scared the beejeebers out of me. Thankfully, Rachel didn't seem to have this problem, was there anything this girl was afraid of? " We were just on our way to class when Kori found out she had her...um, monthly cycle." she finished, looking embarrassed.

Hmm, I doubt that was from her acting skills..." That may explain why she is here. That does not, however explain how you got here." she told us quite meanly.

Byotch. I didn't like to swear.

" No." Rachel started carefully, " Kori got hers a little early so she wasn't exactly prepared, if you know what I mean," nodded half disdainfully, half understandingly," So she ran up to me and asked me for one, I went with her to the bathroom and we just came out now and we were on our way to class just as you came by."

The teacher seemed to contemplate for a moment. _**Please, please,please say you believe us. I promise I'll never ever ever be caught out of class again.**_ I prayed to anyone who'd listen.

She nodded her head. " Fine. But I do not want to see you two out of class again. Do I make myself clear?" we nodded like good little girls.

As she walked away, I sighed in relief. " Thank you for sticking up for me. She scares the garbage out of me" I admitted.

" Garbage?" she chuckled.

I slightly shocked, but kept it to myself. " Yes garbage, what's wrong with that?" I asked defensively.

" Nothing. Nothing. It's just, when Richard talks about you, he makes you sound like some alien monster sent to destroy life as we know it."

I was slightly offended. " Oh Richard." I shook my head.

" Well, if you don't think I'm an alien sent to destroy earth, what do you think I am?" I asked curiously.

She looked at me for a minute, and I knew that whatever I'd hear, would probably be one of the best things she'd ever say to me. " I think you're," she hesitated," sweet...but don't you dare say anything to anyone or I'll deny ever saying it." she mockingly glared at me.

I giggled. " Of course not. Besides, who'd believe me?" I grinned as she her lips turned up in an almost smile.

" The only person who'd believe you are my friends, and they would probably have a hard time dealing with it." we had come to the chemistry lab.

" You here too?" I asked.

" Yup." she answered as she opened the door to find our teacher, Mr. Plasmus passed out on his desk drooling.

" Ew." the goth next to me said blandly, I heartily agreed.

"Ummm why is he not teaching and why is he drooling?" I asked out loud, and open question.

Our star football player, Victor Stone answered, " Well little lady, it seems like Sleepyhead over there has that disease, the...ummm...it probably ends in itis...I just can't, Karen honey, what's that disease that makes you sleep all the time?"

A beautiful honey colored girl with two buns on top of her head rolled her eyes and smiled at me. " Don't mind him, he's generally really smart, but well, he stayed up until 6 a.m last night and hasn't slept since. But in case you were wondering, it's called, narcolepsy. No itis." she grinned sassily at me.

I threw my head back and laughed. I never knew that Richard's friends could be so...nice and friendly. I always thought they were, not exactly just like him, but I all thought they hated me. I guess both Rachel and I were wrong. Karen stood up and made her way towards me, " Hey, I'm Karen Beecher, we haven't officially introduced ourselves before, so I thought, hey why not?" she stuck out her hand and I shook it warmly.

" Hello! I'm Kori Anders and I'm glad to meet you!" I answered enthusiastically.

If there's one thing I love, it's making new friends. I noticed Karen kicking Victor with her foot, smile ever present on her face. He stood up, " Hey there, I'm Victor Stone, but call me Vic, all my friends do." he said, winking.

I giggled. I liked him. He seemed to be quite funny. I could feel the daggers being stabbed into my back by Jennifer's gaze. Oh heck this was going to be a long day. " Yo Grasstain! Get your lazy butt up here and meet the lady." It was nice how, even when they already new me, they still introduced themselves formally.

As if, in a way, this meant we were friends. Instead of bystanders in the dangerous dance Richard and I have been preforming for years. I thin, slightly small boy with forest green hair with eyes to match strode over to me. " Dude! I was trying to get in some beauty sleep before you-! Oh, hey Kori. What's up? I'm Garfield Logan, but please, call me Gar." he said sheepishly.

I laughed. " You're funny." I said honestly.

He perked up instantly, his eyes shining. " Really!"

" Uh huh." I offered him one of my million watt smiles when I heard Rachel's comment.

" Well think about it Gar, out of 500 kids, at least one of them has to think you're funny." he frowned and looked depressed again.

" Aww Rae! You ruined a perfectly good moment!" he half sobbed.

" Deal with it." was her dry response.

Ouch. Vic and Karen rolled their eyes as if this was an everyday experience. I sighed, it probably was. "So, where's the rest of your crew? Don't Roy, Alan, Terra, and Wally usually hang out with you four?" I asked.

Garfield seemed to literally have hearts in his eyes. " Terra, Roy, and Alan are on a free period and Wally is chilling with Richard in English class if you wanna know." he told me wiggling his eyebrows.

" Oh please. Don't give me that look. We hate each other, not love each other." I told him sternly.

" Suuuuure" was his smart reply as I stuck out my tongue at him.

I realized that I was actually having a good time. With someone other than my friends and I liked it. For some reason, I felt like I belonged. Like I was meant for this group of people. I was guessing they felt it too, since they all seemed slightly bummed out when I said my good-byes and plopped myself down to sit with Jennifer. " What was all that about?" she hissed, he pink hair flying around dangerously.

" Nothing. I was just talking to some people. No big deal." I tried to soothe her before she exploded.

Unlike me, Jennifer **loved** to get mad. It was practically her hobby. " It's not OK if you ditch your best friend on the first day of school in one of the very few classes we actually have together to talk to a few losers." I could see Victor giving Gar a nuggie as Karen laughed uncontrolably.

Raven just sat there reading her latest dark novel, but I could see her grinning. I turned back to Jennifer, her cat-like eyes wild with anger and jealousy. Her mouth twisted. I knew it was cowardly of me, but I really wanted to get up, tell her off and sit down next to Rachel and talk about our favourite books. But I couldn't. For that I was miserable.

" Look Jennifer, you have no right to be mad at me for wanting to make new friends. I wouldn't mind if you did," I looked her straight in the eye and smirked, " Besides, I thought you'd like me being friends with them. I heard that a certain pink haired punk has her eyes set on the fastest boy alive." I said slyly.

I knew I had won from the priceless expression on her face. Her mouth wide open in shock, and her eyes open with passion. She grumbled a bit. Opened her mouth to try and say something. Threw her arms out and sighed. She sank in her seat and childishly said, " Whatever."

I laughed and gave her a side hug. " Aww, you know you'll always be my best friend right?"

" Yeah. I guess."

I frowned, but it quickly turned into a smile when my least favourite person walked through the door and a brilliant idea wad born in my mind.

" Oh Fangie-poo! I came to tell you somehting!" the annoyingly pink and perky blonde, known as Kitten strode in the room.

A tall and zit covered guy rose up to walk towards her. " Yeah babe? You decided to go out with me again?" he asked smirking.

Ew. Why would you **want** to go out with her?

She smiled sweetly and ran in his arms, " Oh Fangie-poo!" she started and instantly turned savage," Go out with you! After you dumped me two days ago for some hoe you picked up from Johnny Rancid's party? Hell no! Nobody dumps Kitten and gets away with it! I just came to tell you that we are officially over! No more get together in the janitor's closet, no more free feels and no more free sex! We are over you here me?" with that totally rated R speech she slapped him on the face and twitched her skinny little butt out the door.

Mr. Plasmus finally woke up as Fang ran out the door yelling, " Wait! Baby! Come on you gotta forgive me!"

I shook my head. Boys.

* * *

It was finally fourth period as I raced to the lunchroom when I finally understood when Jennifer had said, we only had two classes together. For the first time in my life, I would be having lunch alone. Well, at least this time, I'd have some entertainment. Just then, phase one of my plan entered the room perfectly on time. Richard Grayson walked to his table and groaned with his head in his hands. Awww. Poor boy. Too bad my sympathies won't save him now.

Phase Two: Kitten Moth enter the cafiteria still red from her outburst.

Phase Three: " Hey Kitten."

"What do you want Anders?" she asked rudely.

" Nothing, just wanted you to know that Richard's been talking about you non-stop all day. Kitten this and Kitten that. I know how much you like him so I thought I'd give you a hint and go grab 'em." I smiled evilly.

Kitten smiled her ugly smile. " Really!" she screeched," My Richie-Poo's been talking about me?"

For some reason that made my inside squish in anger, but I ignored it. "Yup."

Kitten ran to Richard's table and literally flung herself at him. Phase Four was just getting started.

* * *

**A/N/ bet you guys were wondering where Kitten was hiding her evil little claws. Well there she is! Get ready for what Kitten's gonna do to our poor rich boy in the chapter four!**

**P.S. I'll update Sleepover Confessions soon, maybe tomorrow, I've just been busy lately.**


	4. God How I love Apples

**Hey sorry guys, for taking so long with the update. I was just busy and you know, stressing about school and crap You know. Anyway, I'll update Sleepover Confessions soon so don't worry and don't kill me, hope you guys like this chapter, you'll find it quite...romantic :) So here ya go!**

* * *

Phase Four was now in session. Kitten threw herself at poor, unsuspecting Richard and flung her amrs around his neck. "Oh Richie-Poo! I knew you'd come to your senses and realize that we belong together!" she gushed in his ear.

The expression on Richard's face was priceless. His eyes were wider then the meat surprise currently being squashed under Kitten's elbow and his mouth was opened slightly in surprise. His arms were slack against him, not moving. Oh this was going great! With Richie-Rich's lips slightly parted, our favourite rich brat clumped her fist in his hair and dragged him forward, tongue stabbing into his mouth and lips fully raping him. Now this wasn't part of the plan.

I growled as my hands automatically made fists. Richard _**finally **_ got over his intense shock attack and pulled himself away from her disgusting grasp. " What the hell are you doing?" he gasped for air.

By then, all of his friends had filed into the cafeteria and were standing there, feces looking like blubbering fish. " Oh Richie-Poo! Is it illegal to give my new boy-toy a kiss?'' she grinned saucily, " Or do you want to go straight to the blow jobs?" she smirked naughtily and leaned in for more.

I could hear Gar whispering, " Kitten does blowjobs?"

…and Rachel smacking his head in the process. Good old Gar. Richard sputtered, " What-I am so not your-" he cut off suddenly, " Anders." he turned a 180 in his seat and his gorgeous azure eyes locked with mine.

I had stopped yelling at myself for appreciating his eyes. It was hard not to. I walked sultrily across the room to his table, swinging my hips a little more than necessary. Ok Kori, you can do this.

I felt as though time stopped as I neared his table. I could see Kitten's marker blue eyes glare at me hatefully and I almost laughed when she grabbed Richard's hand in a silent, back off girl, he's mine move.

Stupid girl. Oh well, she may be a seriously good to god, dumb blonde, ( no offence to blondes!) but I never thought anybody was that stupid. I guess you do learn a new thing everyday. '' Hey Richard. Howya doin'?" I asked smiling.

He glared at me. "Back off Anders, I try to help you in class and this is what I get? You should be thanking me."

Ouch. He had a point. If only he could see that what I was doing was for the best. We can't be friends. It just wasn't possible. We were meant to be best enemies forever. Things couldn't change. Not when my life was already so tops turvy. We had to hate each other. There could be no other way.

But I made the mistake of looking into his eyes and I could feel the guilt swarm me inside. How could I do this to him? I couldn't. I can't. But I have to. Those beautiful clear eyes were staring at me with a mixture of confusion and hurt with a bit of resentment; hopefully not for me…no it has to be for me.

The inner conflict was almost too much to bear and with a heavy heart I tried to say as bravely as possible, " I-I am thanking you, I noticed you didn't have a,'' I paused, " A girlfriend, so I thought, hey! Why not ask this lovely girl to be your girlfriend? Since she loves you oh so much and after all the nice things you've done for me in the past, I thought you two deserved eachother. You know, since you're both so nice." Oh I hated telling him that, but, I had no other choice.

* * *

His eyes widened again before Kitten butt her dyed head in, "Listen Anders, butt out ok, he told you to back off and I don't like when girls try to get my man." she told me snootily.

"Oh it's not me you have to worry about." I retorted darkly and turned on my heel.

Sorry Richard, but it's for the best.

Obviously, he didn't think so as the next thing I new, he had grabbed my hand and pulled me to face him, "Just where do you think you're going?" his eyes were dark and unreadable.

I set my food tray on his table and turned to face him, "Outside. I need to eat lunch somewhere don't I?"

I could see indecision in his eyes as his left hand came from behind his back, " Well, you don't need to go out anymore." he told me with a knowing smile on his chiseled face.

"Oh? And why's that-!" I started to say before I was cut off by Richard's hand heading for my face.

His hand smacked my entire face with our tasteless mashed potatoes. My face was covered in a lumpy white mass and when my green eyes opened, they met the faces of hundreds of laughing teenagers with nothing better to do. I growled as Richard clutched his stomach howling.

I had an idea. I grabbed his hair and ignoring his yells of surprise and his cooperativeness I took his gelled up hair and using the soft locks wiped my face clean of any mashed garbage. " There we go, all clean." I smirked as Richard's friends were Ohhhhh-ing.

Take that pretty boy. If there was one thing Roy and Richard had in common, was their love for their hair. I knew I had struck a major pretty boy nerve. " Ooops, did I mess up poor baby Richie's hair. Oh I am so sorry." I baby-talked to him in mock repentance.

"Oh you are going to pay for that Anders" and he lunged toward me.

* * *

As he lunged toward me, we crashed into his table and landed right on top of it, (ditch science class here) creating havoc. Pure and utter chaos happened next, and I would always remember this day,six trays flew up into the air and exploded, showering us with meat, potatoes, juice and random apples here and there.

Richard yelped and rolled on top of me to protect me from the falling food. Why was he protecting me again? I opened my mouth to ask him when a last unknown apple clunked on Richards head and as he groaned in pain the force of the fruit pushed his head down…right onto mine.

His soft lips collided into mine in a surprise kiss. His lips tasted like chocolate milk and candy. Mmmm. My eyes had fluttered closed and I swear it felt like an actual make-out. When Richard finally seemed to realize what he was doing and leapt off me faster than Wally could tear up the race track.

God how I love apples.

My eyes were wide and passionate and I stood up shakily. That kiss was amazing, but I can't let it mean anything. That would ruin everything I had built up around myself, my walls would collapse, what would happen then? I shook my head to clear my thoughts as Richard still looking surprised and slightly pleased with himself when I announced I needed to clean up. I was running out the room when I heard Richard agree with me and race to the nearest boy's bathroom. Sadly, they were right next to eachother, and so was Kitten.


	5. Nothing Would Ever be the Same

**I'm really sorry about the lack of update and that I'm bashing Kitten here, I just watched all the episodes she's in, namely Date With Destiny and Calling all Titans and I just got soooo mad! I hate her soooo much, anyway, I'm sorry I haven't been updating, but a lot of crap and drama have been going on, but I passed almost all my tests, AND! I found out how to cheat on 1km warm up so that i don't kill myself. I know, I know I'm bad, but hey, I am NOT athletic so shoot me.**

* * *

I sighed, great. Miss-and-Mighty was here and she was ready to pop a vein...actually, some of that scenario didn't sound so bad. I giggled slightly at the thought and I saw Richard's confounded and extremely WTF expression and I burst out laughing. Oh they must think I'm crazy. Oh well. I sighed and turned to face the world's best mascara fencer. " What are you laughing at Anders?" she sneered at me and placed her hands on her,obviously, fake hips.

Along with her boobs and her hair and her-oh. She's talking. Joy. " So what are you laughing at?" she screamed hysterically.

" Oh Richard, how did you ever date that? I mean, look at that vein that's about to pop in her forehead. Oh dear, look what all those frowns did to that face." I paused for a bit before snidely adding, " Oh! And are those...frown lines I see?" I mock gasped in my hand as Kitten's face paled considerably and her contact eyes widened.

" OMG! Frown lines? Oh no! I can't believe it! Richie-Poo! Do I have frown lines?" she yelled.

She ran up to him and jumped up and down as Richard looked slightly star-struck and so totally out of it. I elbowed him in the side and he startled "hm?"

"We were just making fun of Kitten." I told him, smiling in my hand.

" Oh, um Kitten?"

" Yes Richie-Poo?" she asked rubbing against him.

I shuddered and looked away. What a skank. I know. I know. I don't know her and whatever. But...still! She is such a slut!

" Kitten, I-I wanted to say that I really wanna go on a date with you." he managed to say with effort.

Hold on! What? He's asking her out on a date? Since when does he like her? Oh no. This isn't right. He should be asking-_**Just who should he be asking Kori?**_

_**Which girl should he be asking? You? I thought you hated him Kori. I thought you hated him with a passion that you brought these two together. It's your fault you know. If you didn't want them together then why did you play that prank? Besides, you're the one who said things can't change. You're the one who still wants to be his enemy. Make up your mind Kori, because one way or another you're going to get hurt.**_

_**

* * *

**_

I shut myself up and tried to get my shocked and hurt expression off my face before Richard, and even worse, Kitten saw it. But I was too late. I tried to look natural and nonchalant. Like I didn't care. When inside I still couldn't figure out what was going on with me. The slight hurt in my eyes stayed and the frown that kept wobbling decided to keep me company when Richard smirked slightly, " I gotta thank you Anders, you brought me together with the love of my life." he wrapped his arms around the dying blonde and put on a wide smile that looked slightly fake.

" Oh Richie-Poo! I love you too! I've always loved you! As for you Anders, I guess your little scheme didn't work. That kiss you had with **my **boyfriend was a total accident and he totally wishes it never happened. He only came here to wash the nasty taste of you from his mouth. In fact, he thinks you're a greasy haired rat. He's mine. Always will and always will be mine. Not yours. Not now, not ever. So you better get a new guy to try and throw yourself at. I mean, you're such a slut."

"Kori, wait-!" Richard started to say eyes widening behind his shades.

My eyes widened and my lip's wobbling started again uncontrollably, I could the tears threatning to teeter off my lashes and show my weakness in front of the two people I hate most. Is that what he was really doing? Is that how he thinks of me? A disgusting rat? I bowed my head so that a mane of red surrounded my face. How could he. Through my tears I could see Kitten dragging that sorry excuse for a man down the hallway as Richard turned around to look at me. He took a step toward me before Kitten dragged him away, laughing and screeching.

* * *

I collapsed against the wall as I clutched my arms to my chest. I pulled my knees up and sobbed. Lunch was for another half hour so nobody would be coming out anytime soon, which meant more time to cry and have a pity party. I was mostly optimistic, I tried, I really did, but sometimes, it just gets too much to bear. I cried for myself, I cried for the confusion. I cried for the hate I was so unused to feeling, the want I was so unused to feeling. This hurricane of emotion that I couldn't control. I didn't know what it was. It was so new and foreign. I cried for that. But the main reason, the real reason I cried, was because I had no idea why I was crying.

Maybe because Kitten said all those things about me. Maybe I truly believed that Richard had meant those things. But even if I did, why does it matter? Why should I care? I hate him. He hates me. It's only natural that we say cruel things to each other. Isn't it? My arms fell to my sides as I sobbed an "Uhh" no I don't hate him.

The tears overflowed just then, pouring down my face like sinks out of control. I sniffled and hiccuped. Bawled and sighed. It seemed as though I had been lost in thought and crying my pain for forever when I heard footsteps. Light uneven ones. Two pairs. Someone was running here.

Didn't they know they aren't supposed to run in the halls? I buried my face in my hands just then to hide myself from the on comers, when a pair of warm hands cupped my face and lifted it up to meet theirs. For a moment, just a moment, I wished they were Richard's. Coming here to apologize and tell me that he never said any of those things. Never said them, never will. Just for one moment.

Then I saw the kind and sympathetic face of Karen, her gray-green eyes gazing sorrowfully in my own. Rachel's own face stared at me from behind. Both had twin looks on their face. Poor girl.

" Hey Kori, what happened?" Karen asked me kindly.

I took one look at her kind, kind face and burst into tears all over again. I was enveloped in Karen's comforting arms as she patted my back and told me to let it all out. " What happened Kori?" she asked gently.

When I wouldn't reply, Rachel took matters into her own hands. " Karen, as much as I hate to say it, we're going to have to ditch class for this one."

For a second, we both just stared at her in shock, it was a well known fact that Rachel loved to learn and that she never missed school unless she was dying. Huh, I never knew I was that important.

At our shocked faces, she put on a defensive look, " What? I have a heart too you know," she smiled slightly there, " Friends are more important than school anyway."

Friends. That's a nice word to hear right now. Something comforting. A thought that swells up inside you and makes you feel like you could fly. I smiled at her as Karen helped me up and led me to her cute yellow bug car with black flames, giving it a rather cute, but sassy look. We piled in the car, me in the back and Karen and Rachel buckled in the front. I must have had a confused, and slightly confused, expression on my face so Karen spoke up, " Girl, we like you, you should hang around with our group more often." she added with a smile.

I sniffled as I replied, " Oh Karen! I would, honestly, b..but...I don't think Richard," I hiccuped there and paused," likes me very much...Actually, I think he hates me. Considering what he-what he did today." I choked back a another sob.

Karen narrowed her eyes. " What has that spiky-haired-good-for-nothing-rich-kid done now?"

Rachel shook her head, " Kori, he doesn't hate you, he just-"

I shook my head fiercely, " No! He does! He has to! What he said to Kitten and Kitten! Ugh! How could he?" my misery had ended, only to be replaced by my raging anger.

Karen shared a confused and slightly shocked expression with Rachel. "...Ummm Kori? What exactly happened?"

We were on the main road off the school, Titans Avenue, I had learned that all six of us lived somewhere off this road. Right now, we were headed to Karen's house, to apparently crash and talk it all out while eating fatty foods and watching t.v. It was supposed to be a happy day. Supposed to be a day where nothing would go wrong. Everything did though. Now it was supposed to get better. A rising sun to a rainy night. But it didn't. It never would be better after that. Nothing would ever be the same ever again the moment Rachel screamed.

* * *

" Oh, I have to go now, I just got a very important call. Yeah, I'll meet you later, bye!" all in one breath without waiting to heat for a response, a silent figure ran to a sleek black Mercedes and drove off down the street. Oh today was going to be a good day. Already, phase one was in action. High school isn't a game. Because right now, it was about life and death. Secrets and trust. Betrayal and love. Someone was going to get hurt. A lot of someones. If the plan goes their way, they'd be rich, famous and powerful, with no one left to stop them. Oh it was a good day.

Driving down the road, they were rewarded with a scream.


	6. There's a Bigger Plot in all This

**Hello everyone, yes I added a twist to this, I have decided this story is going a rather...interesting way. I'm not sure how to continue, I have ideas, but you know, please, if you have any suggestions, please do tel!**

* * *

Rachel screamed so piercingly that my heart pounded with fear and my face drained of all colour. My head throbbed and the palms of my hand burst with scarlet as I pierced the delicate skin with my horrified nails. My emerald eyes widened, still streaked with tears as my mouth automatically opened to join in the symphony of fear and terror. Karen's grip on the steering wheel tightened drastically as her cocoa colour lightened to an almost white. She turned sharply as she too screamed out loud. They blasted through a fence as the black Mercedes pummeled into them.

The black car looked beautiful and horrifying as it crashed into us. The windshield exploded against our faces as blood and skin stained the ground below. The seats deflated and the airbags popped out smashing Rachel's and Karen's faces in. My body was forcefully tossed around as the seat-belt tightened and grabbed violently at me, tugging me back, as I slammed my back into the shard filled seat. As metal crushed metal I watched as a shard of glass shattered and stabbed Karen as her head lolled around. Karen. All I could see was the blood. Blood everywhere. In the background Rachel was still screaming. Screaming and screaming. Her face bruised and battered, scarlet tears rolled down her face. Oh, don't cry Rachel, it's almost over...my head turned to look at Karen's unconscious one. Mmmm, she was sleeping. Sleeping sounded good right now. Yes...sleep. Just a little bit. Only a minute...Rachel's scream kept me awake to hear someone's cruel laugh as my eyes fluttered closed and the world went red.

* * *

**Rachel POV:**

"Kori! Kori! No! Stay with me! Kori! Don't go to sleep! Kori, no!" I had screamed myself hoarse by the time Kori's luminous eyes found mine as she begged me to let her go.

" No! Please!" I yelled, begging her.

But her eyes closed and her body slumped. I broke. No. No. No. First Karen, now Kori. She was alone. Alone in a broken car, surrounded in a pool of blood and glass. She was hurt. She was broken. She watched the car pull away as it mocked her. "Argh!" she yelled, wanting nothing more then to chase after that car and destroy the driver.

Rip them apart and hear their screams. .. As the car disappeared into the roads and sky, the shock set in. .God. We were in a car crash. We could have died. I looked around. Maybe we already-No! Don't think like that.

My eyes widened as I realized the cold, hard truth. Somebody had tried to kill them. Somebody had deliberately tried to kill them in their car. Oh my god. She started to panic as so many truths and half-truths rolled around in her mind. Lies. Lies. Lies. What do I do? What am I supposed to do. Her fingers fumbled around, trying to find a grip on something to calm down...that's it! Calm down. Come on Rachel, you can do it. Breathe, in and out. Come on. Come on. Her fingers skimmed her purse as she yelped in surprise. Her purse! Her cellphone!

Her fingers itched toward the zipper as she tugged at it, desperate to hold it in her hands, to feel the safety of it. The comfort. As she gripped her phone tightly in her palm, she never remembered a time where she was so thankful for anything. She flipped it open, and watched as the screen saver popped up. It was a picture of her. Her with all her friends. Richard was smiling suavely as crossed his arms. Victor was ruffling Gar's hair as he scrambled around trying to get out of his grip, smiling nonetheless. Karen had her arms around Victor from behind and as for me, I was content standing between Victor and Richard, content to being with them.

She felt the sudden wrongness of the picture before dialing. Kori should be in there. The sudden realization felt so oddly right. She knew, that if Kori was in that picture, Richard's arm would be around her waist and Kori would be smiling sweetly and telling me to smile pretty for the camera. A tear dripped down and slid down the screen. Oh. At that moment, I wanted nothing more then to go back in time, all the way back, to their preschool year, to when Kori came, and invite her in their rag-tag group.

Her fingers brushed the numbers as they pressed the digits for the emergency number. I was getting more light-headed as the seconds ticked by, so when the line finally picked up. My strength was so limited that I could only whisper a faint " Help." before the phone slid from my hand and clattered to the floor as I fainted from loss of blood.

* * *

**3 hours later:**

Kori, Karen and Rachel were all hooked up to IV's and machines and tubes as doctors and nurses ran around, desperate to save the girls' lives.

Outside, in the dismal waiting room, twelve desperate people were begging to be let in to see them. " Please! I'm begging you, please let me in to see my daughter! She's the only thing I have left!" a woman with long ebony hair sobbed to a nurse. " Please, let me see Rachel!"

The nurse looked apologetically at the poor woman, " please, we can't let anyone in at this time. Please calm down. Right now, there aren't any dramatic changes in their health." the nurse tried in vain to calm the hysterical woman down.

"Is there nothing we can do?" a chocolate skinned woman asked the nurse, tears running down her face.

" I'm sorry, there's nothing you can do at this point." she shook her head and walked out the door.

Richard banged his fists on the wall. " What happened?" he growled.

Victor put a calming palm on his shoulder, " Chill man, we're all upset, but we can't do anything, we just have to wait." his words were calm, but inside it was a havoc.

* * *

Gar just moaned as he pressed his face into his hands. How could this have happened? Why did this have to happen? Why them? Why?Why?Why? What had they ever done to deserve such pain. They were such amazing people, who would ever do that to them?Why? None of them deserved any of this. His eyes teared up as he thought of his three friends fighting for their lives in the next room. Poor Kori. Poor innocent, sweet Kori. She was so amazingly kind and helpful, she didn't deserve to be hooked up to tubes and chemicals. He spotted Karen's parents trying to comfort one another in vain. Karen. Spunky, shopoholic Karen, she mothered all of them so much. She told him to do his homework and reminded him of all the stuff he needed to do. She was a great friend. She didn't deserve to be crippled in a hospital room. He glanced around as he clutched the seat with his sweat-stained palms. Oh Rachel. At the thought of the gothic beauty the tears gave way and cried for her. He cried for her pain. Cried for lost time. Cried for all the fights they'd had. But most of all, he cried for the lost chance of love. As he sat in the white room and all the miserable people. He realized something very important. When they told him Rachel was in the ER, a little piece of him died inside. A little piece of him hated himself for not realizing that he never loved Terra, he had loved Rachel all along. He sneered at hismslef slightly, you never did know what you got until it's gone. He never got to tell her that he loved her. Loved her so much it hurt. Who was going to smack him upside down when he said something not-funny? Who was going to roll her eyes when he tried to act smart. All this time, he'd been in love with Rachel. All this time he wasted on another girl that didn't even matter. All this time...and now it might be too late.

As the tear spilled the door opened and everyone's eyes immediately zoomed up, hoping it was a nurse, or at least a doctor. Instead, they found an Anders girl.

* * *

Sadly, it wasn't Kori. It was Koma, her older sister. Her face was etched with shock as her tear streaked face took in everyone." Where is she? Where's Kori?" she pleaded.

Roy shook his head, " Listen, they're not letting anybody in-" he started.

Koma shook her head viciously. " What do you mean! I'm her sister! The only family she has right now! They have to let me in!" she screamed.

Alan shook his head, " I'm sorry Koma, but they're not letting anybody in."

" What do you mean only family she has left? Where are your parents?" Richard asked suddenly, the first words he'd spoken in a long time.

Koma was so distraught she didn't even think before saying, " They left on another business trip today." she said mournfully.

She shuddered and fell into a chair. How could she? She was such a horrible sister. She was mean. She fought with Kori, she hurt Kori, she couldn't remember the last nice thing she said to her sister. She felt terrible. Her sister could be dying and the last thing she had ever said to her was that she hated her.

**Flashback**

They were fighting again. Over the stupidest thing, who would pick up mom and dad when they came back from their trip. "Kori stop being such a bitch! Just do it!" Koma yelled.

" No! I always do it! Why don't you for a change?" she yelled back.

They had been arguing for hours until Koma screamed, " You know what? Fine, I'll do it! But I hate you! Do you hear me? I hate you! I never want to see your face again!" with that she turned on her heel and ran away.

She could still see Kori's heartbroken face and watch the sadness fall on her face.

**End Flashback**

She was so sorry. Kori was dying and she never got to say sorry. To tell her, " I don't hate you, I could never hate you, I love you." her whisper was tinged with sobs as she remembered her little sister.

* * *

Victor punched the seat of his chair. He was so stupid. Why didn't he follow her? Why did her let her go? It was all his fault. Now Karen was in the hospital, she might not make it. All because of him. He wished he could find that driver and tear him apart. He deserved it for all he cared. That driver hurt his girlfriend and his friends...Karen. He felt like-he didn't know what he felt like. He was so worried about her, about all of them. He was so confused. He just wished she was here with him.

* * *

If everyone thought they were confused and hurt, they should have been in Richard's head. His mind was spinning and turning. He didn't know what to do. This was all his fault. He should never have done what he did. Never. If he hadn't, maybe they'd still be okay. But things could never be okay, not with his life. He never should have talked to her. He was only trying to protect her, and he had gotten her killed. No, don't think like that. She wasn't dead. Though she might as well be. By protecting her, he hurt her. How was that going to work out? He just couldn't figure out why they wanted her. Why?Why?Why? Who? So many questions. If only she knew. If only she knew how much he wanted her.

* * *

A nurse walked into the room and Gar, Victor, Richard,Koma and the parents all stood up. " You are allowed to see them now, they're all in separate rooms and you can only go in one at a time. Follow me."

They all stood up stoically as they followed her down the hall. Holding her clipboard she pointed to romm 406, " This is where Karen Beecher is." Victor, Mr and Mrs. Beecher, Roy and Wally all stood in front of the door as her parents entered first.

Room 407 was Rachel's and Gar, , Alan, and Terra walked toward it.

Room 408 was last, and it was Kori's. Jennifer, the newly returned Jade, Koma and Richard all lined up. Koma opened the door reluctantly and slipped inside. Patiently waiting, Richard paced. What was he doing here? She probably hated him. Why would she want to see him anyway? He was still pacing when Jennifer told him he could go inside.

Her face was sad and regretful, she had to go home since Jade was her ride. She didn't want to leave, but she had to.

Richard walked inside, hes shoes slapping against the cold tiles. As he reached her bed his heart broke. Kori's once beautiful face was still beautiful, but marred with bruises and cuts. Her entire face was greenish-yellowish as the bruises started to form, her lips were split and she had a broken nose. Her left arm was in a cast and her breathing slow and steady. He sighed as he sat in the stool and took hold of her right hand. He rubbed her thumb slightly as he started to speak.

" Hey Kori, it's me, Richard. I know you hate me, but I, I wanted to say sorry," he sighed as struggled before continuing, " I wanted to protect you, but I hurt you instead. Please Kori, ever since Freshman year, I please. I never meant to hurt you. Do you remember fifth grade? That was the best year ever. Remember middle school? I know. I know. I shouldn't talk about it, but please understand. I never wanted it to end. But I had to. I had to protect you. But by protecting you, you were in a car crash. Good protector I am huh? Kori, I, it hurt, to hurt you. But I had to. And what Kitten said, you know it isn't true. There's something bigger going on, I want to tell you, but I can't. Somebody's trying to kill you, but I don't know why." he took her limp palm and pressed it against his face, " Oh Kori I never meant for any of this to happen." a lonely tear leaked through his sunglasses as for the first time, Richard Grayson cried.

Kori twitched as her eyes fluttered open, " Don't cry Richard, it will all be okay."

Richard didn't care if he was dreaming, if she heard, he didn't care about anything right now. Kori's hand tightened around his as he choked, " No it won't, I ruined it. I ruined everything."

"Maybe you ruined it, but it doesn't mean you can't rebuild it." Kori answered."Richard, please tell me everything."

Her eyes pleaded with him. He shook his head, " No Kori, not now, when you get better, please. That way, you're still safe."

" Please Richard, nobody will know-"

" No! They know everything, I don't know how, but they do. Later, please." he begged her.

She hesitated, " Fine." suddenly, she fell asleep again and she this time, she didn't wake up.

He looked at her softly and brushed his lips against her own, " I'm sorry Kori, for everything I did, and everything I will do."

He closed the door and ran to his motorcycle. He needed a long ride. But before he got there, a figure rushed at him in the darkness. "Don't you dare tell her." a cruel voice whispered as they clutched his arm tightly, " Tell her, and we will kill her and all your pathetic friends as well."

The man threw him to the floor and ran in the night. Richard groaned, now what? With his world in thrust in chaos he didn't see the flash of blonde hair that struck him unconcious.

* * *

**I know, I know, not my best, but I try. Review please and tell me what you think.**


	7. Project Starfire

**A/N Sorry I haven't updated in a looooong time, I've just been really busy with school work and everything. I'd like to thank all my reviewers, YOU GUYS ARE THE BEST! Give yourselves a cookie :) Also, thank you to Echo, who corrected my accents in chapter 6. Ok, things are starting to get kinda heavy here, enjoy!**

* * *

**Kori:**

_A little girl with flowing red hair and sparkling eyes bounded down a regal staircase toward a large man with a haggard face and a menacing scar that ran across his left eye. However cruel he looked, his eyes sparkled with an unlimited tenderness as a smile spread across his battle-worn face. The little girl bounded into the strange man's arms and hugged him tightly yelling, " Galfore!"_

_Galfore's smile stretched farther as he twirled the girl in his arms as he listened to the sound of her joyous laughter. " How is my little bumgorf doing on such a fine day?" he asked the girl as he lowered her down._

_A frown marred her face as she pouted, "Oh Galfore! My lessons are quite horrible. I hate to complain, but father is pushing me far too hard." her wide sad eyes stared into his._

_He took her hand in his and started to walk down the immense hallway. " Little one, you are the heir to a wonderful kingdom, a beautiful island, the throne of-"_

_Fire._

_Screams_

_Pain_

_Sister_

_Fire_

_So much noise. She couldn't see. Everything was so fast, like it was all on fast forward, she could still see the child and the man talking about...a kingdom? What was going on? _

_Suddenly, the burnt figure of little child took up her view. She was horrified. The little boy's skin was charred off, turning black and melting. Blood poured from a gash on his head. As flames licked at his hair, his clothes. The fire threatened to consume him. To devour every inch of this boy. His skin melted showing the protruding bone. He had long since died, but his pain was still alive. Scremas reverbrated throughout the hall. He couldn't have been more than two years old. _

_The little girl had started to scream. Something black swooped over to her. He had a knife. He was going to stab her. She was terrified. Help. Help! Why isn't anyone helping? The fire burned on as it engulfed everything, leaving me in utter darkness. I was alone. I was terrified. I was the little girl who's eyes stopped sparkling._

I gasped and shot up from bed, panting with tears streaming down my eyes. I couldn't see. I was blind with the tears in obscuring my vision. I was petrified in the dark. Oh my god. That dream. That nightmare. I sat myself up and pulled the covers around me, hugging myself tighter in a vain attempt to scare away the darkness and the fear. The fear that swelled up inside me and was slowly building up to the point I would explode. I had never been so scared in my life.

The nightmare pulsed around in my head as I tried to comprehend what it meant. A little girl was talking to her...father? She didn't want to study and then he started to explain about her inheritance. Was she the daughter of a business man? Then, then the fire started. But it didn't seem like that. It was too unnatural. Part of the conversation was cut off. Missing. It was so confusing. After the fire things go blurry. There are flashes. The body, oh my god the body. I had never seen something to utterly grotesque or depressing in my entire life. I cried for the little boy. I swear to god he looked familiar. But that's impossible. It was just a dream. Just a nightmare, a figment of my overly imaginative subconscious. It had nothing to do with me, or anyone I knew...then why did the little girl look exactly like me? Why did I get the feeling, she was me? Why?Why?Why? I had so many questions and no answers. I knew this could never have happened, I was raised in Jump City. Always. I had never been in that hall, wherever it was. I would know, wouldn't I?

I shuddered as I lay back down to try and get more rest. Not sleep, rest. There was no way I'd go back to sleep after that. With the questions still ingrained in my mind, I closed my eyes and tried to drift off into the land of nothingness and comfort.

* * *

**Unknown:**

I crept away after threatening the Grayson boy and walked casually to my car. It was a beautiful car. Sleek and gorgeous. It was a Honda, 2011 civic hybrid. Navy blue and a smooth ride, she was my baby. I slid the key into the ignition and pushed gently on the peddle. Yes, I loved this car. As I drove through the city I thought about Project Starfire, it was going to be a success, that was a definite. But he never expected Grayson to betray them like that. Never in a million years, their most loyal man and he tries to jeopardize the entire mission in telling the Anders girl. If she ever found out...they were doomed. Worse then doomed. They were finished. Project Starfire would be a success and he would rule all. Or he would, after her killed Wayne...and Grayson.

* * *

**Garfield in the hospital room with Rachel PAST**

I slipped inside the room quietly as I spotted her on the tiny bed with tubes and wired wrapped around her like a Christmas tree. Just not as festive. Her black hair was raggedy and brittle where some blood had dried, her lip had been cut and a a long curved gash marred her right cheek all the way down to her chin. Her body was bruised and battered and tiny cuts scarred her body, but her eyes were still defiant and sarcastic and so full of Rachel-ness that he wanted to burst into happy tears and swing her around. "Rachel." he breathed.

Her face turned toward him and she smiled slightly, " Hey doofus." she said lightly.

" Hey yourself. You know how mad I am at you? You happen to skip the one day we had a pop quiz in English class. Something about Eddy A Foe or something. I mean, how do they expect me to pass without you there?" he asked manically trying to lighten the mood.

Rachel scowled, even near death experiences couldn't make her nicer, " First of all, it's Edgar Allen Poe you dolt, second of all, it wouldn't kill you to just study for once in your life."

I just stared blankly at her, " What's a dolt?"

She just rolled her eyes. But I saw that smile creep up her face. She leaned back in bed and closed her eyes. I gazed at her marveling her beauty and calmness. " How do you do it?" I asked curiously, " How are you always so calm?"

Rachel opened her eyes, annoyed. " Meditation. Focus. Self-control. Neither of which you have." she said.

I chuckled a little. " True, but I can so meditate if I wanted to."

" Oh yeah?"

" Yeah."

She smirked, " I bet you couldn't last five minutes of complete and utter silence, meditating in a completely calm state of mind."

Okay, so I didn't know what the heck she was talking about, but hey, how hard could it be? " Your on. And do I get when I win?"

" Getting cocky huh? I thought I was talking to Gar, not Richard."

I smiled, " You better hope he didn't hear that."

" But anyway, if you win-"

" You give me a kiss. A real one." I interrupted, hardly daring to breathe.

I saw a hint of red on her cheeks as her eyes slightly widened. Those dark eyes showed a mosaic of emotion, confusion, hope, mockery and a little bit of care? " A...kiss?"

I nodded hopefully, " Fine." she agreed, " A kiss. But if you lose, you have to do one thing for me. Anything I say." she told him sternly.

I weighed the options in my head, and thinking there was no way I could lose, I accepted. She pulled her wrist up and set her timer for five minutes. " Since I'm an expert in meditation, I'll be able to tell if you're actually doing it or not. You have ten seconds. 9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1 start!"

I abruptly closed my eyes and crossed my legs on the floor. I breathed in and out just like how they did it in the movies. Of course, most of them said Ommmmm, but I figured I'd just stay silent for this one. I tried to stay calm and find my inner peace. But I just couldn't keep silent. I had to talk. The room was so quiet and empty. It felt abandoned. Just as I was about to open my eyes and plead defeat. I remembered my reward for this. I remembered why I was even doing this stupid thing. The kiss. That beautiful, amazing, hopeful kiss that would change everything. I closed my eyes tighter and really concentrated. I was trying harder on this then I had in anything else in my life. Before I knew it, the alarm chimed the end of my torture and my eyes fluttered open to see Rachel's shocked face staring in wonder at me. Her eyes were wide and proud as her smile lit up the room. " Wow Gar. You did it. You actually did it!" her enthusiasm was contagious.

" Yeah. Yeah, I really did. Woo! I told you I could meditate!" I leaped up and grabbed her by the shoulders.

It wasn't those movie scene twirl kisses. It wasn't a romantic dip in the rain. It was just Rachel, me and the IV tubes. I leaned down and stared into those deep eyes of hers as I pressed my lips gently on hers. It was spectacular. Amazing. Stupendous. NO word could describe the feeling of utter bliss and joy I felt when I kissed Rachel Roth. Or the joy I felt when she started kissing me back.

* * *

**Present Time:**

**Richard:**

When I woke up, I was back in my bedroom in Wayne Manor. I reached toward the side of my head and I felt the stickiness of blood and the huge bump where I had gotten hit. I sat up looking wildly around. I don't get it. What the hell happened? I had gotten knocked out by someone with blonde hair, a man. Tall and muscular and the next thing I know, I'm back here? What the hell happened? Before I could ask myself anymore questions, Bruce walked in looking abnormally worried. " There's a problem. A problem with Project Starfire. We've been found out."

* * *

**So whaddya guys think? I hope you liked the kiss, I tried to make it really good, but I just don't think I gave it justice. I dunno. Thanks for reading! Also, any suggestions are welcome and to my amazing reviwer, Echo, Jericho and the blonde mystery man shall be making his entrance in the next chapter hopefully. **


	8. I'm So Sorry

**Hi everyobody! THIS IS IMPORTANT! I have a change to make, in the first chapter, it says that Rich and Kori have hated eachother since preschool, I'm changing this to hated eachother since middle school. Sorry everyone, but it needs to be done for the story. Thanks for reading!**

* * *

**Richard**

I gaped at by adoptive father. What? What the hell did he say? There was no way we could've been found out. Absolutely no freaking way. We had been careful. We had been discreet. We had hid and if hid, you could never find us. What the hell happened? If we were found out, we would be doomed. Dead. No, beyond dead. They would find us, kill us and then erase us. It would be as if he never existed. No. They couldn't be found out. It would be the end of everything.

Bruce saw the look on his son's face, " Don't panic, they didn't find out that particular little secret, just that you were trying to tell the Anders girl. Speaking of, what the hell were you thinking?" he was yelling now, face turning an unhealthy shade of red," What the hell was going on in your head when you decided to tell the girl? Do you know that you almost ruined everything? Everything! You almost cost us our lives Richard. Our lives! You need to be more careful." he ended with a sigh.

I growled and my hands closed in a fist. " How did they find out?" I asked venomously.

I was so stupid. Why did I even go into her stupid room? Why? I hated her! Hated her!

_No you don't._

Yes, I do. And even if I didn't I shouldn't be anywhere near her.

" You know how they are, they have spies everywhere. Especially on us. As the most loyal and strong members, we need to be watched most of all." Bruce told him tiredly.

" Why did we even do this anyway?" I asked even though I knew the answer.

" For the same reason you stopped being best friends with Kori in fifth grade." he answered.

I nodded my head dejectedly. " Yeah. I know. I'll think up of an excuse later." I muttered.

Bruce shook his head. " No need. Alfred and I already though one up. We'll tell you on the way to the meeting tonight. Remember, 6:00 sharp. Be downstairs." with that, the tall man strode out of the room.

I sighed. What had I done? I groaned and flopped on my bed lost in my memories.

* * *

**FLASHBACK**

I was in Preschool. I was new and I was scared. I clutched my mother's hand tightly as I walked into my new classroom. I was awed. There were kids everywhere! And pain and drawings too! Toys littered the floor and I saw the racks of coats and lunch bags lining the walls. A tiny corner was dedicated to story books and a chair for the teacher. I gulped and looked at my mother fearfully.

" Don't worry Robin. You'll have fun in your new there are lots of toys and kids to play with. You'll enjoy yourself." my mother replied comfortingly.

I consoled slightly by the usage of my nickname, Robin. I liked it better then Richard. She led me toward the teacher. She was tall with chestnut hair and dark brown eyes. She had a black hair band in her hair and was wearing a purple dress with a silver and black belt. She smiled warmly at him. " Hello, my name is Rita Farr. I'm your teacher. Welcome to your new school. You must be Richard."

I nodded and smiled a little. She seemed nice enough. She took my unoccupied left hand and led me to the tables. I let go of my mother and after saying good-bye I followed her. She led me to an otherwise empty table save for a young girl with garnet coloured hair and emeralds for eyes. She was jewel. And I decided right then and there that I liked her and she was going to be my best friend.

" You'll sit here next to Kori." said.

I nodded and slid into the empty seat beside the girl. " Hi!" I said amicably.

Her green eyes looked my way and sparkled. " Hi! What's your name? I'm Kori."

" I'm Richard." I replied.

**END FLASHBACK**

**

* * *

**

From there, we chatted and became great friends. It was just us. Always just us. Grade one, we sat next to each other. Grade two, we bought each other candy grams. Grade three, I proected her from the bullies. Grade four she told off my fangirls. Grade five, it all came crashing down. That was the year we found out about Project Starfire. That was the year we joined. That was the year I had to make Kori hate me. The less she hung out with me, the safer she was. Or so I thought. Looking back, I saw that in keeping Kori far away from me, I had put her in more danger then ever before. She had no one to protect her. No one to hear her scream. I was such an idiot.

* * *

**FLASHBACK**

" Richard!" Kori yelled, catching my attention.

" Where's the fire Kor?" I asked amusedly.

She huffed. " No where idiot. I was just gonna tell you about the grade five dance!" she screamed excitedly.

I rolled my eyes. The grade five dance was a joke. It was the last year of elementary school so the school put on this loser dance in the gym. Without a parent's signature you couldn't go. But I didn't really see why you'd want to go. It was for losers.

" Come on Kor, why do you even want to go to it? It's just a stupid dance."

She looked scandalized. " Because! It's gonna be the high-light of our year! Come one Richard! Let's go! It'll be fun!" she begged.

" Why not just ditch and have some real fun?" I asked.

" Because! I have a perfect record and unlike you, I want to get good grades." she huffed.

I rolled my eyes again. " Fine, but only if you be my date." I asked.

She blushed cutely. I loved making her blush. It was fun. " S-sure. But Katherine-"

I shivered. " Ew,Katherine should go take a long walk off a short pier."

She giggled and linked her arms with mine. Yes, it was a good day.

We went to the dance, we had fun. More fun then I would have expected. I came home elated and high. High on Kori. I realized then that I had a crush on her. It was an easy thing to accept. I always knew my first crush would be Kori. It was just meant to be. I was planning on waiting until grade six to ask her out. Eleven seemed to be a good age. I was just hoping she'd say yes. I really, really hoped she would. My smile fell off my face when Bruce pulled me aside and told me to stop being friends with Kori.

" Richard, you have to hurt Kori. You need to stop being friends with her." he told me harshly.

" What? No way! I'd never hurt Kori! Ever! And I don't want to be enemies."

" You have to. Would you rather her hate you and be alive, or liking you and being dead?" he asked me.

I was shell-shocked. It was then I learned of Project Starfire. Even though I was shocked by the details of it, I wasn't at all the least bit surprised. I always knew that if anyone would be a princess, it was Kori. I just never expected the history behind it.

I wondered if Kori knew, probably not. Did that mean her parents were the King and Queen of Tamaran? Wow. My best friend's parents were royalty! My smile dropped. No, my enemy was royalty. I went to my bed miserable and angry. Why Kori? Why me? Why? It just wasn't fair!

But for Kori, I would do anything. Even if I meant making myself miserable. The next day, I made Kori cry. I used to be her protector, now I was another enemy. It killed me.

" Kori." I said curtly.

She smiled brightly and jumped up. She ran over and hugged me tight. "Oh Richard! I had a great time yesterday! Wasn't it fun? I told you so." she poked me in the chest teasingly.

I grimaced and tried to hide the pain and sorrow from my eyes from what I was going to do. " Kori, I had the worst day of my life yesterday. Mostly 'cause..." I couldn't do it, I just couldn't...but I had to," because I was with you."

I watched in self hatred as her eyes widened and began to fill up with tears. " I hate you. Always have always will. And I never wanna see your face again." I finished.

Before I could see more of her tears and fall to my knees saying how sorry I was and to please please forgive me, I ran. I ran as far as I could and as hard as I could. I tried to run away from everything. I tried. But it just wasn't possible. I ran all the way back to Wayne Manor and for the first time of my life, I, Richard Grayson, cried.

**END FLASHBACK**

* * *

Since that day, we'd hated each other. I became friends with Alan, Terra, Wally and Roy. It was never the same without Kori, but I made the best out of. In middle school, we met Victor and his best bud Gar, they joined our group along with the Gothic Rachel and Karen. Karen because she and Vic had started to date. They were a great couple, but I hated seeing them since they reminded me of what Kori and I could never be. In the end, there were two groups in our main one; Victor, Rachel, Karen, Gar and I and Roy, Wally,Alan and Terra in the other. I couldn't help but think that Kori should've been in our group.

I saw as she became friends with Jade Nguyen and Jennifer Hex. I watched as she grew up to be beautiful and lovely. I watched as she grew up to hate me. My heart broke more. But I tried to be strong. I tried to learn to hate her, but I couldn't. I could barely pretend.

* * *

**Kori**

I shivered awake. The sun's rays peeked out of the window and I sighed in relief. The night was over. Finally. No more nightmares. I stretched and jumped out of bed. Huh? It seems that I was allowed to go home from the hospital in the middle of the night. Well, I can't say I'm gonna miss it. I ran downstairs for a large bowl of my favourite cereal, fruit loops, and a big glass of water when I overheard my mother and father in a hushed and rather argumentative conversation.

" No! She needs to know! She has the right." my mother whispered.

" She's too young and there's no need for her to know." my father argued.

"As the heir, she might be in danger-"

" I said no, as the King, I overrule you."

I could hear my mother's shocked gasp and the slap that followed.

" She is my daughter too and I will tell her. Just try and stop me" she threatened.

I knew this was not a conversation I was intended to hear. I scurried to the kitchen and rapidly set a bowl and began eating as fast as I could to evade suspicion. My sister entered the room and smiled saucily at me, " So, I heard that you got a midnight lover boy in your hospital room last nigh, care to share?"

I blushed. " No I don't. Now come here." I beckoned her forward with my hand.

She looked at me, slightly confused, but came, " What?" she asked.

" Did you hear mom and dad?"

" No, why?"

" I think you're in danger."

* * *

** Thanks for reading and please review! I hope you like where this is going and I'll try to add the other characters soon. This chapter's kinda a !**


	9. Four Freaks

**Hi everyone! I have decided to stray from the original story line and do the cliche thing, well here it is. I searched up a few facts and I know Karen's scene isn't exactly the best but if you look it up, I didn't really have much to work with. Also, Gar may seem kind of stupid but I needed him to be really obtuse in this chapter. The Rich/Kori will definately be happening very soon and I have now revealed who the mystery blonde is. I hope it surprises you :) Have fun reading.**

* * *

**Kori:**

"Danger? Quit fooling around Kori, I know you just came out of the hospital and all, but this is ridiculous!" Komi reprimanded her sternly.

Kori shook her head wildly. Her luminous eyes flashing. " No. I'm serious. I overheard mom and dad, they were talking about a King and some heir or something-" she was cut off by Komi's sudden cry.

" What? No, you just heard wrong sister dear. Nothings going on, you probably just imagined it okay. Kings and heirs? Please, are you sure you didn't watch a fantasy movie before bed?" her tone was that of a mother light-heartedly reproaching her child...except for that minuscule hint of fear in her voice.

That set Kori off right away. She whirled around so that her back was facing her sister. She clasped her hands to her chest and looked down. " No, I know what I heard. Somethings going on, you have to believe me Komi. You have to."

Her head was still bowed when the black haired girl strode up and placed her hand comfortingly on Kori's shoulder. " Don't worry so much it's nothing to worry about." with that, Komi walked out the room.

She stood still as an oak as she let her leave the room. Kori's shoulders slumped in defeat and she would have thrown on some sweats and collapsed on the couch if her phone hadn't rung right then. Later, she would wonder why she had ever answered that call. She wondered if everything that happened would have occurred if she hadn't said hello.

* * *

**Richard POV**

I reached into my closet and pulled out the black dress shirt and dress pants that had hung on their lonely hanger for months. I stripped my ratty T-shirt off and buttoned the uncomfortable shirt on. The pants went on next and as I tied my shoes I noticed how...abnormal I looked. Richard Grayson does not wear dressy clothes. Richard Grayson doesn't get scared. I stood up and glared at myself in the mirror, I realized something. Was I always this cautious? This wary? Had I always been this frightened? My palm pressed against the mirror. No, I had to be strong. For Kori...always for Kori. A white tie was strung across my neck and I raced out the door. Time to meet The Brotherhood.

The Brotherhood was an elite group who longed for one thing; power. And world domination, but that could come later. The Brotherhood were responsible for many terrorist acts and tried and failed to put themselves in a position of power. Their latest scheme was dubbed Project Starfire and if they succeeded, not only would many innocent lives be in jeopardy, but the corruption and evil of The Brotherhood would contaminate everybody, leaving them with power of the entire world.

Recently, a few of their scientists had discovered the large island of Tamaran, well, not really discovered, more like, just realized it's potential. In the olden days, Tamaran had been one of the most influential countries in the world. Located in the south and part of South America, Tamaran had been one of the major leaders of commerce and the third richest country. Despite being a monarchy, the people were happy and the rule was fair. The Royal Family were nothing if not loyal to their country. One of the most prosperous countries was abruptly destroyed by some mysterious cause and suddenly, it was as if Tamaran had ceased to exist. People seemed to forget about the beautiful island and once and the Tamaranian Royal Family had fled.

That was the official story. However, I knew by now that everything is not as it's told. Being a minor member of the society, I didn't know everything, but considering that Bruce was one of the most trusted, I was pretty well-informed. What really happened the night Tamaran fell apart was as nasty and horrifying as it sounded. Now that the Brotherhood knew about it, Bruce and I had to stop them using anything we could. As I got into the limo, my cell rang, I reached over to answer it. I flipped it open and said, " Hello?" Later, I would wonder, if I hadn't answered that phone call, could I have avoided what was to come?

* * *

" Yo! Gar! Quit messing around in my car!" Victor bellowed as Gar was currently pressing as many buttons as he could in Vic's recently upgraded baby.

" But Vic! It's fun!" Gar whined pathetically.

" Gar, if you don't cut it out I will personally throw you out of this car." the glowering face of Rachel's burned holes into him.

She had just been released with a broken arm and quite a few bruises and cuts, the doctors assured her that she'd be alright. She just need bed rest. Naturally, her friends had dragged her out first thing, along with Karen of course.

" Come on Vic, can you drive any slower? I want to get to the concert today you know." Karen's affectionately annoyed voice rang from the passenger seat.

Victor huffed. " Alright, alright. I'm just worried about driving too fast okay."

Karen smiled and rubbed his shoulder affectionately, " Don't worry, the accident was a freak accident, we're alright now. Now come on let's go!" she urged him.

They laughed as they sped along the road unaware of what was to come.

* * *

Leaving the concert, four separate disasters occurred. Four horrible accidents that would ruin their lives. Accidents that left them will genes genetically modified and not completely normal. Four friends. Four freaks.

" Aw man! That was one concert." Victor yelled as they tumbled into the car.

" I know! And when the horn blew confetti! I still have that stuff on me!" Gar nodded enthusiastically.

" Tell me about it," Karen bumped her hip against Rachel's, " Come on Rae, I know you liked it too."

Rachel didn't say anything but you could see the slight smile making it's way across her face. " Yeah, yeah, whatever."

They reached Rachel's house first. The windows were dark and the house emitted a strange aura. One filled with darkness and regret. The car door opened, and a black boot stepped out. " See you guys later I guess." Rachel said and walked toward the large black door.

" See ya Rae!" Gar replied smiling.

The car drove off and soon, Rachel couldn't see it anymore. She sighed and pulled out the silve key from her pocket. Pushing it in the lock she slowly turned the key. Opening the door led her into her classy living room, starving for light. She flicked on the switch and dropped her bag to the floor. Rachel's face blanched. Her stomach clenched and she groaned, clutching her stomach in pain. Her eyes were wide as a doe's caught in the headlights. Blood. There was blood on the beige carpet her mother had carefully picked out...her mother! Rachel raced into the room and following the trail of blood, it led her upstairs where she finally heard the sounds. A tear squeezed it's way out of her her right eye and she bit her lip. Her father... her mother. Mother!

Not caring about the consequences she ran to her mother's door and pushed it open wildly. There stood her father, grinning madly holding her mother in the air by her hair. Her mother's limp body stood out like a luminous sign. " No!" Rachel cried.

Her father turned drunkenly around and that's when she noticed the empty beer bottles littering the floor. Rum, vodka, gin,alcohol, beer, whiskey, it was all there. The disgusting liquid mixing with her dying mother's blood on the floor. Her father dropped the limp body to the ground and kicked it away from him. Like it was something dirty and disgusting, not to be touched. Anger rippled through Rachel's body, anger like she had never felt before. How dare her hurt her? The one woman who loved her unconditionally, before she met her friends, her mother was the only person she could turn to, the only person she could talk to. " Git 'way from here Rashelle." he slurred.

" I have some b-b-bb-bizness with yur mo'er." he glared at her threateningly and he bent down to her mother's body already unbuttoning her blouse.

" No!" Rachel screamed and flung herself in front of her mother.

Blocking her body with her own. " You little bitch!" her father screamed and he raised his hand as if he was going to hit her. _Oh hell no._ Rachel thought and just as his fist came smashing down, a black energy burst from Rachel's body and blew him backward. Her eyes, now four of them, turned the colour of the innocent blood spilled below her. " You will not touch me!" she screamed.

Her fists glowed black and her father screamed in terror. She raised her fist, full of power when a soft hand touched her wrist. Rachel blinked and was shaken from her anger. Her mother, now standing tall and proud reached forward and pulled her daughter in an embrace. " Oh Rachel. I had hoped to keep it from you." she murmured in her hair.

Rachel looked up, " Keep what from me?"

Her mother met her gaze, " Your heritage."

* * *

Gar was next, they reached his house with good time and as he said his good-byes he pondered over dinner. Maybe they'll be eating burritos tonight, he loved tofu burritos. Making his way in the house he yelled cheerfully, " I'm hooooome!" when nobody answered, he shrugged and bounded into the kitchen. He expected to see his mom there, smiling happily and giving him something good to gobble down before dinner was ready, noticing that she wasn't there, a small frown formed on his face. Where was she? He decided she must be in her study and since he was starving he checked up there. In the simple study there was a small tray containing a few containers of what looked like green tofu. Gar walked over to it and studied them carefully. He made a list in his head,

it's on a tray

it looks like tofu

he was starving

what could it hurt?

So, Gar bravely grabbed the first container and slowly started to open the lid. The green tofu thing' aroma penetrated his nose, oh man! It was good! He greedily ripped a chunk out of it and proceeded to stuff it in his gaping mouth. Just as his mouth clamped shut and his teeth commenced chewing his mom burst through the doors and wailed, " No! Garfield! No!" she ran at him and tears burst from her eyes.

Gar stared confusedly at her and swallowed quickly before saying, " What's wrong mom? Was it for dad?" he asked meekly.

His mom just stared dejectedly at the open container as the tears dripped down her face. " Oh Garfield, why did this have to happen to you?" she murmured as she pulled him forward for a hug.

His eyebrows went up and he suddenly felt a strange itching in his ears. It felt like they were...growing. What was happening? His hand reached out to scratch his ear. What he felt was not his ear. Instead of a rounded top, his ear was slowly turning pointy and elf-like. His mouth started to open in shock and the horror of what was happening started to sink in. His hand dropped to his side and what he saw made him gasp in hysteria. His hand...it was green.

* * *

Karen Beecher. Victor Stone. Longest lasting couple in Jump City High. They were perfect for each other and they knew it. Currently, they were in the front seats of Victor's car and profusely making out. Vic's hands were wrapped around Karen's waist and her hands were slithering around his body pulling him closer. " Victor." she mumbled against his skin already regretting having to go.

" I gotta go." she was already out of her seat when she heard him moaning.

" Awww come on Bee, can't you stay a while?" he pleaded.

She shook her head and stalked off, waving. Bee. That was the nickname he had given her when they first started dating. It was a cute name and she liked it. It suited her. Victor had stopped in front of the Ravine. The Ravine was the little forest that was in between her and her house. Of course, she could have just walked all the way around to the main street and go down the normal way instead of walking through the creepy place, but it was quicker and she really wanted a shower. She took a deep breath and stepped into the Ravine. She contemplated the name of the place. It wasn't really a ravine, but when she first showed it to the gang, Gar thought it was creepy enough to be called the Ravine. He said " A creepy name for a creepy forest." creepy it was.

The trees all hung limply and the leaves drooped. The ground crackled and the wind rustled through the branches creating an eerie sound that echoed in Karen's ears. She shivered and hugged herself in an effort to stay calm. It was just a stupid forest. Nothing to worry about. Nothing to fear. It was all right. She kept walking and glancing around when she noticed it, a pair of B's were lying on the ground. Glinting in the dim sunlight they looked utterly beautiful. She just had to have them. She had no idea what the hell they were, but she sure as hell wanted them. She ran up to them and bent down to retrieve them. They were obviously some sort of metal, but they were oddly light. She weighed them in hands and held them out in front of her. Suddenly, something massive shot it's way towards her and she felt a agonizing pain in between her shoulder blades. She screamed as she fell to the ground with a thud. Something seemed to be embedded in her back and shots of pain spread throughout her body. Her vision turned hazy from all the agony and she screamed herself unconscious. The last thing she was was a pair of wings sprouting across her back.

* * *

Krall Arsa smirked and made his way to the conference room. As usual, he was there early to assure nobody trespassed on The Brotherhood's meetings. Nobody got passed him. Nobody. His mind wandered and soon, he found himself thinking about the mission he had gotten a few days ago. One involving Richard Grayson. Fool. He was an idiot to have gone about telling that Anders child what was going on. He had almost betrayed the cause, but the leader of The Brotherhood thought that the stupid child actually had a good idea and was waiting to see what the two men would say for themselves. Of course, their leader had special plans for them, but it couldn't hurt to see where their loyalty truly lay now could it? Krall grinned maliciously at the thought of the delight he would soon have in toying with those two fools.

* * *

Victor had one arm around his seat and the other on the steering wheel. He gazed fondly down and the car and smiled as he made a left turn on the smooth road. If there was one thing he loved, it was smooth roads. No bumps or cracks or anything to ruin his precious car's tires. He hated having to replace those, they were so expensive. Despite loving his car there was only so much money a teen could spend on it. Looking out the window, he decided to take a nice long drive. There was a lot on his mind and driving helped to calm him down. He chose a new driving route, the one on the only mountain in Jump, well it wasn't really a mountain per say, it was just some hill in the woodland area. It wasn't that high but if you fell off the edge, well, let's just say wearing black might be the new fashion for a time. But considering he was a pretty good driver if he dared say it, he thought he could drive up, no problem. What could happen on wheels like these?

Speeding on the road, he didn't notice the sign that said in large, bold letters,

** KEEP AWAY**

** UNFINISHED CONSTRUCTION**

** ROAD UNSAFE!**

** BROKEN RAIL**

If he had looked, if he had paid attention, maybe everything would have been different. Now, he would never know. He drove along happily having his wheel constantly at an angle to keep from drving straight into the short metal rails that stretched all along the edge of the hill. Victor scoffed. Please, what amateur driver would actually hit one of those things? He shook his head and let his mind wander a bit. That turned out to be a mistake. The moment he saw the road cut off, he knew it was already too late. The road and been demolished and the metal railing was torn apart, half of it hanging off the side. He was going at 60 km per hour. It would be impossible to slow down in time to avoid falling down the cliff. It might have been impossible, but Vic was still going to try. He had nothing to lose. He gripped the steering wheel tightly and his fingers paled. He was nearing the end of the road, he had to do it now! He swung the steering wheel around and lessened the pressure he was putting on the pedal. The car swerved around and did a 180 degree turn before stopping, with the trunk facing the cliff, one metre away. Vic sighed in relief. He was safe.

What he failed to realize again was the rear-view mirror on the side of his car and tilted slightly causing the image to be distorted, it made the cliff seem farther than it really was. Farther than normal. He was precariously close to plummeting down. Any sudden movement would tip the car backward and send them tumbling down. Victor sighed in relief and slammed his body backward in an effort to relax. The movement was all that was needed to catapult the car backward. The car flipped once, then went crashing down to the land below. Victor couldn't think. He couldn't breathe. All he could think of was the downward motion and the pain that burned his body as he crashed into the earth.

* * *

Kori pressed the Talk button and pressed it to her ear. " Hello?" she asked semi-cheerfully.

" What's the matter cutie? You feeling alright? Sorry I couldn't see you in the hospital, something happened and it couldn't wait. You okay?" a slick voice replied.

Kori gasped in her hand, " Xavier."

" The one and only." came the satisfied response.

* * *

.Beep. The machines all hummed and buzzed as one when Victor opened his eyes. He blinked disoriently and he swiveled his head around trying to get a better look at his surroundings. He was strapped onto a metal table with power chords and blood tubes all hooked onto his body. " Where, where am I" he asked weakly.

" Hello Victor." a sad man walked in, holding a clipboard.

" Dad? What's going on? Where am I? What happened?" he asked frenetically.

" Relax son. Everything will be alright. You're alive and that's what matters." he held up a mirror and the scream that tore through Victor's throat was heard across the city.

He stared at the familiar stranger staring back at him in the mirror...he wasn't Victor anymore. He was a Cyborg.

* * *

**Writing some of these scenes almost made me cry and I know their not amazing, but I tried. I hope you get what I mean, also, Krall was the only name given when I looked him up, for those of you who forgot or don't know, Krall is the guy who hates Cyborg in the episode where he goes in the past with Sarasim. Umm, his last name I made up, it means ancient in Irish and I thought it was rather fitting, your welcome to use it if you ever need it. Also, I was wondering if you people like where this story's going, I'm not too sure of it myself to be honest. Read and Review! **


	10. Ravens and Cyborgs

**A/N I'm sorry I haven't been updating recently, but I've been really caught up in life and stuff but I'll definitely have more time to write now that school's basically done :) *does a happy dance* thanks to all my reviwers 333 and I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

" Xavier? How did you get my number?" my confused voice resonated through my phone.

A slick voice responded without delay, " Jen gave it to me."

Jen? Why would she give my number to Xavier? She knows I hate it when people give out my number, she was supposed to be my best friend. But then again, why was I worried? It was Xavier, Jen knew how much I liked him, she was probably just trying to hook us up. I smiled and enthusiastically sparked a conversation, " Well never mind that, what's up?"

" Oh nothing, I'm just at the movies and wanted some company, whaddya say Cutie?" I giggled, he said it again!

Cutie! My heart skipped a beat and sent a wave of warmth to every nerve in my body. For a second, I remembered the intense heat I felt everytime Richard spoke my name, I shook my head. Richard was something in the past. I was confused, but now I see that Richard isn't different, he hasn't changed, he will always be some jerk, despite what he tells me. Protect me? Please. He was just messing with me...but fifth grade...I tried to forget about primary school, tried to supress the feelings I had for him. It worked, I moved on, but no one could ever replace Richard. My train of thought was shattered by Xavier's incessant call of my name, " Cutie? Cutie? Kori, you there? Kori-"

" Sorry! Sorry, yeah I'm here, what movie theatre are you at? I'll meet you there soon." I could practically see his scintilating smile as he replied, overjoyed, " Rainville Square."

What I didn't know, what I couldn't see, was the malice hidden behind that smile. The malign look in his eye and the way his hand twitched in a constant movement toward his belt. Maybe, if I had noticed the signs, things would have played out differently.

" Kay, I'll meet you there in 15 minutes. Bye!" I cheerfully hung up the phone and dashed to my room.

Revealing the inside of my closet showed numerous outfits that suited the occasion, but none that fit the bill. I wasn't sure of the look I was going for, casual, cute, sexy, hot, nonchalant, all these factors played an immense role in the art of wardrobe selection. After what seemed like years of contemplating, I settled on a deep ocean blue, knee-length skirt that flowed like soft waves around me. A white blouse and my hair out with a single blue flower clip holding my hair in place. Dark blue beads made up and exquisite miniture flower bobby pin with the actual clip being silver. Being my signature clip since grade one, my granmother passed it to me when I was young. Funny as it is though, I remember my grandmother handing me the clip, but I don't actually remember my grandmother. I felt like a horrendous grand-daughter, but I couldn't seem to remember any family members except my immediate family. Yesterday night's dream reverbrated in my head, could that possibly be connected to my past? My eyes scrunched up in thought and my lips puckered slightly as I turned over the ideas rushing in my head. Is it possible that my dream could be a supressed memory? Over the years, I've read articles and books explaining how sometimes, people with amnesia recover memories through dreams, but there was no way that my dream could be a memory. The little girl was an heir to a kingdom, I was just your average citizen. Nothing special about me, and yet, I feel like I know the strange man in my dream. Galfore. His name causes an unintentional smile to light up my face and I feel happier all of the sudden. Hard as it was to find an emotion to compare to, it was like your father going away for a few days and your mother telling you he'll be coming back in an hour. Perhaps it was someone who took care of me when I was younger, a care-taker or a baby-sitter. I always did have an outlandish imagination, maybe I was just subconciously remembering him telling me a story of a princess. I felt deep in my soul that Galfore was real. My explanation made sense, it was logical, but how did that explain the little boy's death or the fire that now that I think about it, was definitely arson. No fire can grow that large or that dangerous on it's own in a matter of seconds. One minute all was calm, the next the world burned in flames. It was unfathomable. Unreal.

Making my way to the bus stop I stopped myself from over analyzing my dream. Dreams are dreams right? They're not important. They're not real. Why was I worried? I'm not a princess and I'm not inheirting anything other than my mother's jewellary. Boarding the bus I stared out the window dismally, I didn't want to bum out the mood for my date before it even started. Date, I was finally going on a date with Xavier, why wasn't I excited? I should be jumping for joy. Hot, smart, charismatic, athletic Xavier Redd was taking me out to the movies. Most girls would die to be me. So why wasn't I happy?

_**Because you would rather be going with Richard, not a Richard-wannabe.**_

No way, I'd totally rather go with Xavier right? Right? I never got more time to think it over because the bus pulled to a halt and I was ushered outside and into the theatre before I knew it. Xavier's handsome face greeted me warmly. " Hey Cutie, howya doin?"

I smiled, " I'm great, what movie did you pick?" I craned my neck over his shoulder to see what was playing.

He swiftly blocked my view with his broad shoulders and gently moved me to the ticket lady, " You'll see, it's a surprise." he lightly took my hand and held it as we made our way to to our seats.

See, now Richard would never be this cute and romantic. Richard! Why am I thinking about Richard during my date with Xavier? Xavier and I belong together, not me and that jerk! My hand tightened, " Are you okay?" Xavier's worried face loomed over mine.

Crimson spread across my cheeks, " Sorry, I'm fine." I settled back down in the uncomfortable seat.

I was going to enjoy this movie and I was going to love this date. Even if I hate it, I'm going to pretend that I loved it. I promised myself before relaxing and tightening my grip on Xavier's hand. After ten minutes into the movie, I discovered the title of this elusive movie and I cringed, Hangover Part II? My nose curled somewhat in disgust, I absolutely abhorred these types of movies, pointless drabble about pathetic people and no real problems. Everything was fake and phony and sure, there were a few laughs but all in all, they just had no real point and I would so much rather watch Kung Fu Panda 2 for crying out loud! I exhaled impatiently and watched in boredom as *spoiler *Teddy has a missing finger and Stu has sex with a messed up girl prostitute *end spoiler* . Gosh these things bored me. Near the end of the movie, during the wedding part of it, the only decent-ish scene in my ever so humble opinion, Xavier let go of my hand gently and hugged his arm around me shoulders. Oh boy, he was gonna kiss me.

Now don't get me wrong, it's not like I've never been kissed...well okay, I've never been kissed, but something in my heart didn't want this boy, this guy to be the first one to take away my innocence. I veered my face slightly to the left and focused all my attention to the movie never letting my eyes travel far from the screen. Anger reeked off of Xavier and I tensed up as I sensed his electric eye blazing into the side of my head. I couldn't turn around, I just couldn't. I didn't want him to kiss me. I didn't want him to take me out. I didn't want him at all. Suddenly, the room seemed too small and claustrophobia overwhelmed me for a few minutes. I gasped a breath, I needed to get out of here, now. I couldn't stay here anymore.

Devising a quick and efficient plan I twitched in my seat as if my phone had just vibrated and pulled it out. Twisting sideways so he wouldn't see the screen I let out a little gasp and stood up abruptly rushing down the steps. Luckily, we were in the end of the aisle so access was easy and swift. As if suddenly remembering I wasn't alone I rushed back to Xavier and whispered hurriedly. " I'm so sorry Xavier, but my sister just texted me, it's an emergency and I need to go home. I'm really sorry and I'll make it up to you." I didn't add the "I promise" part.

His face darkened, eyes thundering and lips twisting downward in contempt. Meeting my gaze, his face melted into a caring, almost loving expression, " Hey baby, lemme give you a ride, it'll take you ages to get home by bus." he stood up and without waiting for my answer walked away from the large screen.

Numbly following him, I cursed in my head. Damn! Why did he insist on driving me? I wouldn't be able to get away from him now! So lost in thought, I didn't even notice the short round faced boy until I knocked him over. " Oh my god! I'm so sorry! Are you alright? Did I hurt you?" I frantically reached out to him and pulled him to his feet.

His gaze met mine and time stood still for a moment. Green orbs looked back at me, brilliant, exotic green that you only see when the rain wets the trees at night when everything looks like it came directly from a Star Ward movie. Black ringed his eye and his pupil was wide and observant. Looking at him, it was as if he could see into your very soul. I was enraptured by his eyes I didn't see his hand until I found my arm moving up and down. " I'm Joseph, sorry for bumping into you." he smiled kindly at me and walked briskly away.

Joseph. Hmm, he seemed like a quiet, timid boy. Very peaceful, I bet he played the guitar. Smiling inwardly to myself I spotted Xavier in the crowd and made my way over. Plastering a phony smile I popped up next to him. " You don't have to drive me all the way home, I can take the transit, it's no big deal."

He shook his head, " No way, I have to take you, it's the gentlemanly thing to do." he winked and I cringed inside.

Outside of course, I laughed and tagged along as we walked to his car. What had I gotten myself into? The air had changed and was tossing everything around with a rare violence. I shivered and wrapped my arms around myself. Xavier noticed and hugged me close to him for a minute, when I shivered again, it wasn't because of the cold. I tugged open the passenger door and slid in the seat. Pulling my arms right to my chest I was self conscious of my posture and sat up straight and stared determinedly out the window. The engine revved up and we reversed from between the yellow lines. Green lights flashed and Xavier pressed on the pedal sending us zooming down the road. I looked on at the familiar scenery, admiring the flowers and the trees when we turned on an unfamiliar road. One I'd never seen before. Turning my head, he noticed my confused stare and responded quickly, " It's a short-cut, I know this place inside out and I'd hate to waste gas." he leaned back casually in his seat resting his head against the head-rest.

Which was when I noticed what I should have noticed a long time ago. In a drab brown leather holster, the black handle of a shiny new gun poked out, waiting to be fired.

* * *

Rachel's mother shot out her hand and tendrils of filmy energy coiled around her father's body and sucked the life out of him. His body fell to the floor with a cold thud and his snores filled the room. " ...Mother?" for once, Rachel was scared, what was going on?

Her mother's brilliant smile however, comforted her. " I know it's a shock, but you've always had this tremendous power lurking inside of you. I just hoped you'd never discover it." a small smile crept it's way on her aged face.

A white orb sparkled from the palm of her hand and Rachel watched in fascination as the ball of light moved up her mother's arm to reveal a simple white cloak with elf shaped shoes. A red diamond chakra stone gleamed on her forehead and her formerly black hair lightened to a dark lavender similar to Rachel's. " Mom?" her meek voice echoed in the dark room.

" Rachel, you weren't born here on this earth, you were born somewhere far away, in another dimension ruled by peace and the all knowing Azar. I have been gifted with the power so common to Azarathians when I changed upon giving birth to you. You my daughter, have a special gift, a curse some might say, when I was young, I was enraptured by man who seemed otherworldly, little did I know I was spot on with my impression. After finding out I was pregnant with you, I discovered the true identity of your father, a demon, that's who I thought I was in love with. You my dear child are the creation of human and demon." Angela's eyes turned toward her with a love rarely seen.

Rachel stepped back, " What are you talking about? I'm not a demon! I'm just me! I'm just a girl! What are you talking about?" her strained voice cracked at the end of her rant.

" I know it's inconceivable, but Rachel listen-"

" No! I won't believe it. I just won't" the normally Gothic Rachel was losing it.

" How do you explain the power surge just now then? How you explain what I just did not only two minutes ago?" as usual with parents, they had a way of making you feel stupid even when their tone was so comforting and soft.

Rachel collapsed on the bed, emotionally drained and too confused to think," I don't know. I don't know."

" ...I don't want to be a demon."

_**FLASHBACK**_

_" Hey look, it's Rachel Roth, she's that creepy girl that just moved here."_

_" She never talks to anybody, just reads those evil books of hers."_

_" I bet she's in a gang or something."_

_" I heard she was practicing spells in the bathroom."_

_" Maybe she's a demon!"_

_The children's laughter and taunts drove Rachel away and caused her to hide behind the giant oak and bury herself in her latest book. Who needs them? She could be on her own. She didn't need anybody. Who cared what they thought?_

_The kids ran behind the tree and jeered at her, " Demon kid! Demon kid!" they laughed and pointed._

_She stood up and anger rolling off her in waves ran out of the playground and ran until she couldn't run anymore. She sank to the ground at what seemed like another part of the forest surround the playground and hugged her book to her chest. " I'm not a demon. I'm just different."_

_**END FLASHBACK**_

Her mother patted her back soothingly. " Rachel, you know I love you, and please believe me when I say that your not a demon, your only a half demon, you can choose to be good. Your blood doesn't determine who you are. Your choices make you who you are. I know you're a good person. I know you care deeply for those who are close to you. I know you will make the right choices in life. Don't cry over something you can't change."

" I don't want to be a freak. I just want to be normal."

" You don't have to be a freak, what people don't know can't hurt them. No one has to know...I know you want to be like everyone else, but you're not. You're special you have incredible gifts and you should never let anyone belittle it. You have a gift, not a curse, and I implore you to use it wisely. It's ok my little Raven, it's okay."

Raven, that was the pet name her mother had given her when she was just a little girl. Angela always loved birds and birds seemed to love her. Angela described Rachel to be as wise and silent as a raven. Little Raven was from then on her nickname. Rachel liked it, it fit her more then her mother realized.

Rachel raised her head from the pillow, " If I'm a half-demon, what did Trigon give me?"

* * *

" Mom? What happened to me? What's going on, whys this in your office?" Gar's panicked voice cut through the air stabbing Rita Dayton.

" Garfield, I think we should get your father before we talk about this-" she was cut off my Gar's furious voice.

" No! I'm green mom! Green! What the heck just happened? When is it gonna wear off? When will I be normal?"

Rita made her way over to him and cupped his face in her warm hand. " Garfield, I'm afraid it'll never wear off."

" What?" Gar's cry broke Rita's heart but she knew she had to continue.

" Garfield, your father and I were working to find a cure to Sakutia, do you know what that is?" Gar shook his head shakily, " It's a rare disease and your father and I had thought we made a breakthrough with a cure two days ago. We bottled it up and left it here so we could test it later today. You were never supposed to come in her!" she moaned.

Garfield was beginning to see the repercussions of his actions and he fell into the plush chair, head dropping in his hands. What did he do?

" What happened?" he demanded pitifully.

Rita's heartbroken face broke way to tears, " The cure obviously didn't work since your all green, the components of the compound probably altered the genetic code of your body, who knows what all the side effects are. Being green may be one of many."

" I'm not just green, my ears are pointed now and-agh!" Garfield's yell sounded quickly in the quiet.

" What? Are you alright? Garfield!" Gar rushed out the room and flew down the hall.

He clutched his mouth in pain as a his nerves sent waves of terrible agony to his brain. He tore his hand from his mouth and watched in horrid fascination as his left canine tooth elongated and lengthened until he had one odd fang poking out of his jaw. He had a fang. Like a dog. Like a tiger. Like a gorilla. .. For a minute an elation coursed throughout his body. He had a fang! Who else in the world had a fang? It was freaking awesome! He looked so macho and bad boy right now. Admiring his fang in the mirror, the minute was over and he looked with disgust at the abnormal tooth.

He was a freak. A green, pointy-eared, fanged freak. Rachel would never like him now. No one would ever even look at him now without cringing in disgust and fear. His entire was ruined. Everything was going wrong. What could possibly happen that could make this day any worse?

Later on, Gar would berate himself for thinking that because everyone knows that whenever you ask what else could go wrong, something always does. But as usual, he found out the hard way.

Staring at a picture of a cat, he wondered what a green cat would look like. One second later, he was on the ground, four feet shorter, two more legs, and strangled vocal chords.

* * *

Karen woke up woozily. What just happened? What was going on? She remembered a flash of wings and two B's but that had to be a dream right? She looked around, wait, why was she in a forest? Something rustled on her back and she turned, just to scream again. Wings. Gossamer, transparent wings were on her back. And no, they weren't the Halloween strappy wings, they were on her back, sprouting from her back! New muscles had grown while she was passed out and she twitched them slightly. The wings! They moved! Realizing just what those muscles were she screamed again. Oh my god. She had bumblebee wings on her back. Wings! Bee. She grimaced in disgust, Vic would never know how well that nickname suited her now. She stood on shaky legs and walked over to the golden B's lying on the ground where she had dropped them. Those stupid, good for nothing, retarded B's had caused this. Curiosity killed the cat and now she knew why. Why did she touch those stupid things? Why did she pick them up? She had wings for god's sake. Karen was tempted to walk to the nearest cliff and toss the damn things off the side. Picking them up though, she felt the strangest attachment. She couldn't seem to let go of them. She wanted them, she needed them. They were hers and she wouldn't let go, no matter how much she wanted to. What were these things? What did they do to her?

Questions that had to be answered later, she focused on the more important task, how would she hide her wings? The second the thought passed through her head, her wings retracted in her back seemingly shrinking until they fit snugly on her back, invisible except for the large slashes in the back of her shirt. Karen took a deep breath. Okay, so the wings go away when she want them to, fabulous. She supposed that they protruded when she wanted them to as well. Considering that she already had them, she wanted to see if she could fly but she had to get home before her parents discovered her disappearance. She left the mystery of the B's for a later time.

Running back to the house, Karen found that she was slightly glad she had changed in this way. She had always felt that something big was going to happen, something marvelous. Perhaps this was it. When she thought about it, it was actually kind of awesome to have wings and who knows? Maybe the mysterious B's did something as well.

* * *

Whereas Karen seemed accepting of her new life and future, Victor was shaking with rage. " A cyborg! I'm a cyborg! I'm not even human anymore! I'm a freak! This goes against the way of life! You should have just let me die! I'm not human anymore. This is worse then dying. Dad how could you?" Victor's distressed cries tore at Silias Stone's heart.

" I had to save you Victor. I couldn't just let you die." he pleaded with his son, hoping he would see reason.

" No! Nobody will ever look at me the same, nobody will ever see me as anything more then a freak of nature. An abomination. And it's all your fault! You should have just left me."

" You would have died then! I couldn't let my own son die!"

" At least I would have died a human. Not some half metal robot." Victor turned his head away dejectedly from his father.

He couldn't believe it, it was unreal. Half his body was metal. His right eye was mechanical, both his arms had bolts in them. He was unnatural. And abomination. An atrocity. He would never be able to walk normally in the streets anymore, he wouldn't be able to go back to school. He would be forever condemned and fated to live a lonely, desolate life. He would have to break up with Karen. The very thought made his heart crack in two. He didn't want to break up with her, now or ever. He loved her with all his heart, and now they could never be together because of this. Victor was disgusted with himself. How could anyone learn to love him, if he didn't even love himself? On the only side of his face that was still his, tears flowed freely, desperately trying to wash away the metal that stained his life.

* * *

Somewhere dark, somewhere grim and dirty a group of men stood congregated, engaged in a deep conversation. " Does the boy know too much?" a gravelly voice asked.

" It is not a question of whether he knows too much, it is whether she knows too much."

" Either way, it only leaves us with one option." the first man murmured.

A sadistic grin spread across the third man's features, " Murder."


	11. Nothing is as it Seems

**A/N Hi everybody! I finally updated and I hope you like it :) I worked pretty hard on this one and I'm trying to get all the major points in the story ready. Next chapter will be a half filler, half telling you what's really going on and what's gonna happen. I bet all you guys probably already know what's going on, but I'm hoping to surprise all of you the next chapter. Well enjoy! :)**

* * *

**Best Enemies Forever- Chapter 11**

Fear. Fear like she had never felt before in her life. It slithered up her back like a venomous snake and bit at her neck and froze her skin, causing her baby hairs to stand up on end and a light sweat forming on her forehead. Hastily, she wiped at it fervently, hoping Xavier wouldn't notice. Tearing her eyes away from the metal weapon before she aroused his suspicion she threw her gaze to the scenery outside the window and instantly knew this was no short-cut. Gulping she tried to look casual and leaned back in her seat. Fumbling with the window controls she gasped inwardly when she realized they didn't work. Struggling to keep her breath steady she tried to devise a plan to escape. Knowing that she had to do something now, since everyone knows that waiting until you stop is the worst idea of all time, she forced her body to freeze and calm down. Finding her centre, she looked around the car for anything she could use as a weapon.

But Xavier had planned this kidnap well. The inside of his car was naked and bare, with nothing in it but the objects already attached to the walls and floor. Sighing inside, she suddenly lit up with an idea. It was a crazy idea. The stupidest idea she had ever had. If done wrong, she'd be killed, but considering she'd be dead anyways made her decision lighter. She was gonna crash the car…right after Xavier was done with his phone call.

* * *

However, what Kori should have been doing was listening to the conversation that was happening on the other side of her. "Hello?" Richard's wary voice called out from the small device.

The person on the other end snickered a bit, "Well, well, well, Dickie, you'd think you'd know who I was by now."

Silence from the other end, before a growl was heard. "Red." He said finally.

"Yeah, I missed you too buddy. Now listen Richard, the big boss ain't happy with you. You've been a bad boy, and bad boys have to be punished." Babying his tone mockingly, he sniggered into the phone.

A primitive growl cut him short, "Cut the crap Red, what the hell are playing at?" Richard was this close to blowing something up and Xavier wasn't helping matters.

"Fine, don't care that I got the princess with me, she knows too much…because of you. And the boss decided it was time to…let go."

Time stopped and his heart beat amplified in the growing silence. -boom. Images flickered in the back of Richard's brain and his stomach clenched. Closing his fists, his breathing accelerated and he found the constraining interior of the car overwhelming. Pressing the window down he gulped in a breath of fresh air and tried to calm down. This was a disaster. The one thing he was charged with ruined! Gah! Fear gave way to fury and his electric eyes narrowed from behind his dark shades. "Red, you better give her to me right now." He demanded darkly.

A mocking chuckle burned his blood. "No, I don't think so, besides, right after the princess, they're gonna come after you. Consider this a warning." The dial tone rang like a death bell in his ear.

"Bruce! Pull over. Pull over now!"

* * *

He was a cat. A freaking cat. Though he was green, so he guessed he wasn't a real cat, but still. He had four paws, cat ears, awesome eye-sight, better sense of smell, and a tail. Woah. He had a tail! That just had to be the coolest thing that had ever happened to him. A tail!

Still in shock, Gar walked around and tripped a bit. Walking on all fours was harder than it seemed. Shuffling around a bit, he tried out his new vocal chords. "Meow...Meow!" he couldn't speak!

Great, just great. But then again, what did he expect? He was a cat…Oh no. His mom, hearing a cat meowing and wondering what was going on, opened the bathroom door and screamed. Upon screaming, her warm brown eyes rolled behind her skull and her body slowly started to fall forwards. Panicking, Gar felt helpless in his tiny house-cat form and wished he was human again. Almost immediately, he felt the pull of his molecules as they stretched and morphed into his new human form. Catching his mom he set her gently on the floor and shook her harshly. "Wake up. Wake up mom. Please." Gar was distraught; he didn't know what to do. He just didn't know.

Footsteps echoed down the hall. Hard steps. It felt like the whole world shook with each step and Gar gulped. "What is going on here?" Daddy's home.

"If I'm Trigon's daughter, what did he give me?"

* * *

Arabella's face seemed to age right before her eyes. " Oh Rachel, that is for you to discover. There was a reason I taught you how to meditate at such a young age. Find the answers inside yourself daughter." Arabella's figure seemed to dissipate and wavered unstably.

"Mom? Mom? What's happening?" panic drove little daggers in her heart and she clenched her hands together.

"I love you my little Raven." Her form finally dissolved into nothingness and her father's body soon followed.

Rachel stared disbelievingly at the empty space in front of her. "Mom!" an inhuman cry tore from her throat and tortured the air with its despair.

Rachel collapsed on the bed and didn't flinch as a rare tear slithered down her cheek. Her emotions were in turmoil. Sadness. Fear. Anger. Confusion. Disbelief. Betrayal. Horror. Misery. Loneliness…emotions battered her soul and screamed, all begging for her sole attention. Clutching her head she couldn't stop the tears. "Shut up! Leave me alone!" she screamed wretchedly. Control yourself! She never showed her emotions. Never. Suddenly it was too much to bear, she lost her control and screamed and cried. Black wisps shot out her palms and smashed things against walls and tore holes in the curtains. Everything was just too much, she couldn't handle it. She was out of control. Screaming will all her might she curled up inside herself before releasing everything inside. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos!"

* * *

Vic was inconsolable. Nothing would drag him out his self-induced depression. Life was just too terrible for a half metal half man like him. Nothing in the world made sense anymore. Nothing was right. Everything was wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Twisted, just like him. A tear leaked out his one human eye. He cried bitterly, wishing that his other eye could cry as well. Wishing he could still cry again. He could never play sports again. He could never have a rag-tag game of foot-ball. He could never have friends. He wished his heart would clench in pain at that thought. But of course, it was made of metal and wires just like the rest of him. Tossing his head bitterly he tried to remember his best friends. Rich, Gar, Rachel…Karen. Flinching, he curled his hand into a fist. Just saying her name hurt him. God he missed his Bee so much. Karen.

He missed her so much that he could swear he heard her voice calling out to him. "Victor? Viccy? Come on Vic, it's me, Karen." What?

She was really here? Joy erupted in his heart, but was quickly squashed. Oh no. Karen was here. His precious, amazing, beautiful Karen was going to see him. The real him. The robot him. No. No. No. Turning around he gasped at the sight of her. For the past two days, he had been training himself to be isolated, to never see any of his old friends again. To never see anyone again. The sight of her almost brought more tears to his eye. "Karen." His tone was soft and loving…but just as quickly turned to ice. "You shouldn't be here. You need to leave." Allowing himself last glance, he turned around and forced himself not to kiss her.

No one would want to kiss someone like him. Not now. Not when he was a mutated freak. But his girlfriend surprised him. "I'm not going anywhere Victor." She held a determined tone and walked right up to him and touched him.

She actually touched him. Her touch was hesitant at first, but as her hand moved, it grew more and more confident and slowly reached for his shoulder and swivelled him around. Looking him straight in the eye she stepped on her tip-toes and kissed him. On his robotic cheek. "I'm not going anywhere."

Grabbing her hand he gently pushed him away from her. "Karen don't you see me? I'm a machine. A robot! You deserve someone better than me. Someone human!" he yelled passionately.

Determined and angry she held her ground. "No! I want you. I love you! We've been together for four years and I'm not throwing that away because of your lack of self-esteem!" she yelled right back.

"Self-esteem? This isn't about my self-esteem, this is about me not being human!" he retaliated.

Shaking her head softly she walked up to him and placed her hand on his chest. "Being human isn't about whether your heart pumps blood, but whether your heart has any humanity." Pleading with her eyes she continued, "I don't care what you say. I love you. And I'm staying right here."She declared.

Leaning upward, she was pleased when he leaned into her and hesitantly placed his lips on hers. Their kiss was light and soft, like a bird taking flight, like a breeze through the trees. Breathing their own air again, Victor placed his forehead on hers. "I love you Karen. Always will, but can you really love a freak?" his eyes were filled with pain and hurt and Karen's kiss answered his question.

"Of course I can…Besides…you're not the only freak." She responded grimly, before shrugging off her hoodie and revealing her slit tank top and insect wings unleashed.

* * *

"Richard? What is it?" Bruce's annoyed voice cut through his frantic attitude.

"The Brotherhood," he muttered incoherently, "Red, they got her, they got Kori and they're after us."

"Does she still have the tracking device on her?"

"Yeah, it's still on her shoe." Richard answered.

What Kori didn't know, was that the boy she had crashed into at the movies was Joseph, codename Jericho, and an ally of Batman and Robin. After filling the young soul stealer in, he quickly agreed to help and crashed deliberately into Kori and discreetly planted a tracking device on the sole of her right shoe. Effectively keeping her well within Richard's grasp.

Pulling a Superman, Richard and Bruce ripped off their suits and jabbed at several buttons hidden in the the seats and upholstery. Batman and Robin had arrived. Several TV screens appeared in front of their eyes and a small keypad emerged from the back of Bruce's seat. Putting the car on auto-drive, Bruce jumped to the back seat of the limo and proceeded to type in all the necessary passwords and codes before finally bringing up Kori's location. A green lined map showed up with a pink dot slowly moving on one of the shady roads on the wrong side of town.

Another screen showed a video from Jericho's cell phone, just streamed in, Robin watched in outrage as he saw Xavier lead a fearful Kori away and into his car. Car…he kidnapped her! _Well duh Boy Blunder, Red fully told you that._

Ignoring himself, if that was possible, Robin focused on Kori. Spying the pink dot, and watching their own black dot quickly gaining on them, he hoped they weren't too late. He didn't think he could bear it if anything happened to her. Eyes glued to the screen, he prayed to any deity that as listening that she would be okay, hoping beyond hope she would be alright. He felt his heart shatter along with any hope he might have had as he stared at the tiny pink dot explode right in front of his eyes.

* * *

Hearing his phone snap shut she took a deep breath and leaned casually in her seat. _Ok Kori, keep it cool. _ She couldn't let him do whatever he was going to do to her. Who knows what he would try? She'd read all those stories and seen all those movies where the jealous/angry/druggie boyfriend drags his unsuspecting girlfriend into the dangerous part of town and raped her and most of the time, murdered her. And Kori had no intention of getting murdered. Then again, this was a death mission, but still, anything was better than her possible future. Steeling herself one last time, she swung her fist as hard as she could at Xavier's head and lunged for the steering wheel.

Xavier, stunned by the sudden attack didn't have time to think before Kori's elbows crashed into his stomach. Air knocked out of him, he could only watch in terror as the wall of WAYNE Enterprises grew closer and closer. Eyes widening and body tensing he tried to shove the red-head away from him so he could turn the car back around, but she was strong and unrelenting. She refused to let go. "Bitch! What the hell do you think you're doing? You're gonna kill us!" he screamed wildly.

Still refusing to let go of the wheel and him unable to get his foot of the gas pedal, Xavier and Kori, going 67 miles per hour, crashed head first into a wall of steel and metal…the flames were seen from a mile around.

* * *

A young couple was walking down the quiet road when a tremendous crash resounded throughout the city and a nearby wall exploded in heat and smoke. Flames licked the street and black choking smoke clogged the air. The woman screamed and the man hugged her close and ran to the scene of the crime. Choking on the smoke they battled their way to what looked like a car. Smoldered and abused, the front was completely wrecked and the rest was slowly melting from the heat of the impact. Looking in the window, they could see the mangled body of what maybe was a teenage boy. Blood leaked from open wounds and he was unconscious. "Oh god. Oh god John." The woman sobbed into his chest.

"Shh, it's okay Janice, its okay, I'm calling the police." Taking out a worn phone, he dialled three numbers. "Hello? This is an emergency; I've just found a car wreck."

"How many are in the vehicle sir?"

"…Just one. A boy."

* * *

Raven screamed as her essence was dragged from her conscious to her sub-conscious. Opening her eyes she found herself in a strange world of rocks and black birds with four red eyes. She was in her own mind. Hearing a slight rustle she threw her arms up and growled. "Who's there? Show yourself!" Instead of one self, several emerged from the nothingness.

Her. Rachel. There were hundreds of Rachel's. All wearing the same outfit, just all in different colours they stared at her. "Who the hell are you?" she demanded.

"We're you. Or at least, all different aspects of you, we're your emotions." The nerdy one with the large glasses answered.

Rachel stared at her. Say what now? You' think, for a girl who didn't show her emotions much she sure had a lot. Clutching her head she moaned. What the hell just happened? "I believe the answer you're looking for is, you're in your mind because you lost control of your powers." Knowledge replied.

Another Rachel this time with a green cape levitated to her and nodded. "Yeah, you need to learn to control yourself. I'm Bravery." She added.

"I'm Wisdom and you should know that to control your powers, you need to control your powers. You can't overload yourself or you'll explode."

"Meditating helps, I always go to my happy place when I meditate-"a pink girl chipped in.

"You're always happy Happy." A Rachel with a brown cloak sneered.

Real Rachel shook her head. "If you guys are me, then why she is here?" she asked pointing to Happy. "I don't do pink." She hissed menacingly.

A burping sound cut her off. "So what sis? She's still you dudette." She sniggered before going back to burping the alphabet.

Rolling her eyes, Rachel refused to look at her alter ego. "Well that's it? Control my emotions and I'll be fine?" she asked impatiently, she wanted to leave.

Wisdom nodded before saying something. "You're a psychic Rachel, you have to discover your powers on your own, like we said, and meditation is the key to everything about your demon side. Practice and experience will teach you about your heritage but beware your demon blood. For if you're not careful, it could take over you and contaminate your humanity." Rachel gulped and tried to contain her fear.

"Rachel, you need to remember your life on Azarath." Serious said.

" Azarath?" she asked hesitantly.

For some reason, the name sounded so familiar; almost like home…she suddenly remembered her mantra Azarath, metrion, and zinthos. What did those mean? "Azarath is your home dimension Rachel. Remember?" Happy asked.

Suddenly caught up in a whirl of emotion and memories she felt herself levitate into the air of her mind ad twist and turn. Black energy swirled around, covering her entire body and she felt her eyes darken to a brilliant red and the expression four eyes became real. Settling to the floor she was surprised to see herself in elfin boots and a blue-purple leotard with a red belt. A long dark blue cloak shielded her body and instinctively she pulled up the hood. Her eyes receded into normal human ones and she took a breath. She didn't feel like Rachel Roth anymore. She felt like she could soar into the sky and never come back down. She felt as though she was invincible. That nothing could stop her. She was powerful. She was Raven.

Raven of Azarath was back.

* * *

"Garfield, what happened to you?" his father's enraged expression scared the crap out of Gar and he stuttered.

Still mumbling he flinched as his dad roared. "Answer me!" he yelled.

Stirring, his mom fluttered her eyes and immediately shot upwards. "Steve." She sighed.

Shooting down towards his wife he clutched at her tightly. "Are you okay?" he asked fervently.

"Of course, but its not me we should be worrying about. Garfield…he ate the cure." She told him miserably.

"What? Garfield what the hell was you thinking?" he roared hatefully.

"Steve, the side effects are…outrageous." She muttered.

Sitting up, she motioned for her son to change his genetic code. Figuring from his last two transformations that all he had to do was think of an animal and have the will to transform, he grudgingly, thought of a lion and immediately felt the tug of his skin and the elongation of his teeth. Even though the transformation itself lasted no more than a second, he felt the change as though it passed by with minutes. Fully changed he stared into the wide eyes of his parents and roared sardonically. Morphing back he sat back on his heels and waited. "Rita, this is unbelievable, we have to research about this. We could make a significant breakthrough in the world of science." His voice held wonderment and unbound curiosity.

His parents were scientists and generally used their science to create cures, but they weren't doctors. Growing up, Gar already knew that their passion was never their son, it was always their work. Science. Always in the name of science. When he noticed the similar gleam in his mother's eyes, he couldn't help but feel the clench of terror starting in his heart. He didn't like that look. He didn't like that look at all.

* * *

"Karen?" Vic's surprised voice echoed in the empty room.

"Yep, I've called myself Bumblebee." She winked before getting serious again, "I found these B's in the woods and I guess they were coated with something because the next thing I knew I had wings….and when I got home, I lost my keys behind my bed and you know how heavy that thing is and I kept thinking that I wished I was tiny so I could get it and whaddya know, I shrunk…to the size of a bee and I got them back." She trailed off for a bit before continuing. "And those B's? I have no idea what they do, but I have a feeling it's gonna be big. We're both weird Victor, but we're still human. And we're still together."

He smiled then, sure he was shocked about all this, and yeah, it was kinda weird when your girlfriend's nickname suddenly becomes her reality, but he loved the girl and he was never letting her go. "No matter what Bee, we'll get through it. I just hope the others won't mind."

"Who knows? Maybe they're all freaks too." Karen laughed jokingly.

Both laughing at the impossible joke not knowing that everything in their world was about to be rewritten. After all, everything is not what it seems.

* * *

**A/N You know, I just realized something, I have never, not once done a disclaimer, so I guess I'l do it now, I don't own Teen Titans whoever does own it, owns it. Because if I did, there would be a lot more romance and a lot more hilarity. Anyhoo, I hope y'all liked it! Till next time!**


	12. The Teen Titans

**A/N Hi everyone! Woah! I actually updated within a couple days. *gasp* Anyhoo, this chappie aws easy to write since it's mostly a filler ish kind of thing. All the info is now out in the open and our favourite teens know reencounter one another.**

* * *

Best Enemies Forever 12

Sliding from under garbage cans and slinking behind dark alleys, Kori crept around from the scene of the crime and started running as soon as her feet hit the side-walk. Mind on over-load and the horrid images still in her mind, she couldn't help but tipping over and spilling her lunch all over the street. Bile rose in her throat and she coughed and spit the awful taste that penetrated her taste buds. Sputtering a bit she wiped her mouth hastily with her sleeve and spat on the concrete. Shaking her head frantically she tried to find her bearings. Looking around, she realized she had no idea where the heck she was. And to top it off, she looked like she just committed a crime. Soot and grime covered her clothes, there was blood all over the left side of her shirt and a leaking cut on her cheek just screamed of criminal activity.

Rubbing fanatically at her bruised and bloody cheek she tried to make herself presentable. Catching sight of her reflection in a thrift store window, she quickly realized the effort was futile. Muttering at the injustice of it all she considered going back to see if Xavier was okay. Remembering the gun in his pocket she eliminated the thought for the sake of her own life. If Xavier was conscious; he'd shoot her for sure. Breathing deep, she tried to flag down a taxi and succeeded when a run down, beat up, dirty yellow cab pulled up to the curb. Jumping in, she shoved at the front seat with her hands and said as calmly as she could, "2349 Tamaway Street. And step on it." She leaned back forcefully against her seat and tried to ignore the half curious half suspicious look of the driver.

Closing her eyes she tried to shake off the feeling of fear that threatened to consume her. Shuddering at the memory of the past minutes of her life she stared at her hands like they were deadly weapons of mass destruction. And now, she guessed, they kinda were.

Moments before they were going to crash into the wall Kori had an out of body experience. A lifetime passed in Kori's head as a thousand memories and tiny fragments of a life she had forgotten pushed into her consciousness and consumed her.

FLASHBACK

Little Koriand'r flew around laughing happily as she and her sister, Komand'r, practiced shooting arrows at the small target. Flying back down me picked up my specially crafted bow and notched my arrow in place. Pulling back the tight string I watched the arrow zoom by and hit the target straight on. Bulls-eye. "Komand'r! I did it!" she cried happily.

A shadow loomed over her and she turned around, a wide smile on her face. "Galfore! I did it!" she flew at him for a hug and the great old lug hugged her back just as tightly.

"I knew you would my little bumgorf. It's in your blood. We are Tamaranians. We are warriors." He stated proudly, smiling down at his young protégée.

Komand'r smirked and pointed to herself, "Of course, I taught her everything she knows." She laughed and smiled at her little sister who stuck out her tongue at her.

"Come little bumgorfs, it is time for Koriand'r's official coronation."

Tamaranian princesses could only be officially princess when they both turned the age of 5, since Tamaranians aged faster than normal earthlings, that would be age 10 in our time. Koriand'r was about to be announced princess of Tamaran second in line of the throne. The red haired beauty clapped her eyes excitedly. She couldn't wait to be crowned princess. She got to wear a pretty crown and everything!

Her mind blanked to black before another memory flashed in her head.

Ryand'r, her beloved brother, who was only 3 years old, stumbled over to her and she laughed as she caught him. It was a beautiful day when Galfore came barging in and without hesitating, grabbed both royal children and hoisted them on his shoulders like a sack of potatoes. Flying, he stopped in front of the Royal Hall and dropped them gently on chairs opposite of Komand'r and their mother and father, the King and Queen of Tamaran. "Mother?" Koriand'r asked hesitantly.

"Hush Koriand'r. What is the latest news?" she demanded fearfully.

Her husband the King regarded her with a sorrow too great to be on the face of such a young man. Haggard lines dragged across his face and his eyes were tortured with the pain only a father who lost his children ever wore. Koriand'r instinctively reached for the hand of her older sister. She'd protect her. Komand'r always protected little Kori. Komand'r squeezed her sister's hand and stared her father down in grim understanding.

Komand'r was five years older than her and 15 years old in Earth years. She knew what was going on. "The Gordanians. They've attacked Tamaran and they want us as a peace offering." She stated grimly.

Her parents didn't gasp, or step back in shock. They merely nodded their heads like defeated men and refused to meet their daughter's eyes. Galfore's eyes blazed with a fury unknown to man. Slamming his fist on the table, it splintered with the force and cracked right to the middle. "No! I won't allow it! You cannot give up these two children to the Gordanians!" he roared.

Luand'r's eyes flashed in irritation and anger. "You stay out of it Galfore. It is not your place." She responded coldly.

"Not my place? We are a warrior race! We will fight and win!"

"We cannot fight an army as great as the Gordanians!" the King shouted. "We do not have a choice. We have to sacrifice two, to save the lives of two billion." He said sadly.

"No! You do not know the horrors they will inflict on the poor girls-"he was cut off my Luand'r, "Of course we know! And although it pains my very heart, we have to."

"Pains you? Pains you? You do not know the pain of the heart. You did not raise these children, I did! I love them as though I was their real father, you do not know pain."

Something in the King and Queen snapped, "Get out." He said quietly. "Get out!" he roared.

With one last glare, Galfore strode out the room in a huff. Koriand'r and Komand'r only looked in each other's eyes and tried to offer what little strength they had to give to the other. With twin agreement, the two sprinted out the room after Galfore ignoring the frantic calls of their parents. Everything that happened after that was a result of their one stupid mistake.

The dream she had a while back, suddenly made sense, it was a mixture of what happened before and after the fight in the Royal Hall, it was trying to make her remember without giving her a mental overload. _A little girl with flowing red hair and sparkling eyes bounded down a regal staircase toward a large man with a haggard face and a menacing scar that ran across his left eye. However cruel he looked, his eyes sparkled with an unlimited tenderness as a smile spread across his battle-worn face. The little girl bounded into the strange man's arms and hugged him tightly yelling, "Galfore!"_

_Galfore's smile stretched farther as he twirled the girl in his arms as he listened to the sound of her joyous laughter. "How is my little bumgorf doing on such a fine day?" he asked the girl as he lowered her down._

_A frown marred her face as she pouted, "Oh Galfore! My lessons are quite horrible. I hate to complain, but father is pushing me far too hard." her wide sad eyes stared into his._

_He took her hand in his and started to walk down the immense hallway. "Little one, you are the heir to a wonderful kingdom, a beautiful island, the throne of-"_

_Fire._

_Screams_

_Pain_

_Sister_

_Fire_

_So much noise. She couldn't see. Everything was so fast, like it was all on fast forward; she could still see the child and the man talking about...a kingdom? What was going on?_

_Suddenly, the burnt figure of little child took up her view. She was horrified. The little boy's skin was charred off, turning black and melting. Blood poured from a gash on his head. As flames licked at his hair, his clothes. The fire threatened to consume him. To devour every inch of this boy. His skin melted showing the protruding bone. He had long since died, but his pain was still alive. Screams reverberated throughout the hall. He couldn't have been more than two years old._

_The little girl had started to scream. Something black swooped over to her. He had a knife. He was going to stab her. She was terrified. Help. Help! Why isn't anyone helping? The fire burned on as it engulfed everything, leaving me in utter darkness. I was alone. I was terrified. I was the little girl whose eyes stopped sparkling._

After that she remembered that the man with the knife was a Gordanian who had already captured her sister. Frightful eyes met the other before they were tossed in a ship and left with the image of their burning home forever in their minds. After that, they were shipped off to the Psions for scientific experimentation, she refused to remember those memories, only knowing the immense pain and torture her and her sister were put under. After that, she and her sister escaped and fled back to their home planet. Tamaran. However, what happened after that was foggy. She had blacked out and the memories she had right after that was the first day of preschool…on Earth. She had no idea what happened there.

Right when she remembered everything about her grisly past she saw the wall coming closer, a metre away, and suddenly, she didn't want to die. Summoning energy she didn't know she had, she blew up with a spurt of green energy and burst the car door open and zoomed out the side, feet in the air. Somehow, maybe because she had finally remembered her powers, her super strength, her past, she was able to make it before impact. She was hurt from the flying debris and flames, but something strange had happened to her skin, with the flame of what she liked to call star bolts erupted from her, it was like she was snake shedding its skin, her skin became tanner and richer in colour and she felt the flames lick at her but barely felt a thing.* After that she ran without looking back. Running she tried to not to think about what she left behind. But how could she? She had probably just killed a man.

Crying in the backseat, she refused to wipe the tears away. Let them clean the grime from her face. Sobbing she didn't know what to do. Where was she supposed to go? Suddenly feeling the need to get out of the constraining car, she recognized her whereabouts and threw money at the surprised cabbie and strode out the cab. This coincidentally was where Robin and Batman happened to be zooming by.

"Batman! Pull over. Pull over now!" Robin yelled.

Grumbling Batman jumped in the front seat and pressed the break, "You know, you're starting to sound repetitive."

Rolling his eyes behind his mask he jumped out the car and ran to the other side of the street. "Kori! Kori!" he yelled.

"Richard?" she asked, before turning around.

She was met with a cute boy with a traffic light suit and a black and white mask. Holding out his hand he cliché-ly enough said. "Take my hand."

Deciding he was supposed to be a hero and she did have some new kickass powers that she hadn't had enough time to go all oh-my-god-I'm-a-freaking-alien-physco about she grasped his gloved hand and followed him into the limo. Slamming the door shut she saw a black and grey clad man on the wheel pressing on the gas and zooming off. "What the heck is going on?" she demanded forcefully.

Robin looked conflicted for a few minutes before Batman cut to it, "Just tell her everything Richard." He sighed.

Kori gasped. Robin, her favourite hero and secret celebrity crush was Richard! In some ways, she wasn't surprised, he used to be her hero, now, and he was the cities. "Hello again Bruce." She greeted formally.

Smirking, he nodded back before turning to the road. Staring into Kori's eyes, Robin took her soft hands into his own and took a breath. "Kori, I'm gonna be blunt about this. You're not human. You're from a faraway planet called Tamaran and you're the heir to the throne. On your planet there's a large supply of-"

"Oil." She cut him off smoothly. Gaping like a fish out of the water, Robin could only stare before continuing at her demand. "Umm, well, there's an organization of crooks and ne-err do wells that go by the name of the Brotherhood," at this point, Kori glowered and refused to look him in the mask. "Uhh, umm, they discovered your planet and devised a plot to kidnap the heir and force her to do what they want, which is to hand over all of Tamaran's oil so they would be the richest men in the world. But, the plan was to kidnap you after the invasion of your planet, but something stopped them, your parents wiping your memory and bringing you and your siblings to earth. After that, it was all a coincidence that I met you and became your friend. In grade five, the Brotherhood discovered your location and Batman and I went undercover to observe them. I couldn't' be your friend anymore to protect you. I never wanted to leave you-"

"Just get on with it Rich-Robin." She cut him off coldly.

Flinching, he got on. "After that, it was Batman and I keeping them from taking you with false information and false leads. Xavier joined just this year, which is why he tried to date you and right now, they're trying to kill us all."

Outrage blazed in Kori's glistening emerald eyes, shoving him into the window she hissed at him. "So what are you saying Robin, that a boy would only want to date me to kill me?" she didn't know why she wasn't worried or angry about everything he had just told her.

Maybe she couldn't handle it; maybe she was trying to push it all away by focusing on the shallowest aspect of the problem. From the expression on Robin's face, he thought the same thing. "What? Kori is this seriously what you're thinking about?" incredulity rang in his voice.

"Yeah I am, I already know I'm a princess, but do you know what happened during the Gordanian invasion?" fury emanated from her orange skin. "Look at me!" eyes suddenly illuminating in a florescent green that shone with a fiery brilliance, she was grimly satisfied when she saw the widening of his mask and the shock that poured out of him. Curling her hands into fist she pushed her solar power into her hands and pulsed with the power of two starbolts. "I'm an alien freak, with orange skin to boot! And I'm not even a normal alien; my sister and I were experimented on and given these powers by accident and through a lot of pain. "Crashing backwards in sudden exhaustion she closed her eyes was shocked to the core when Robin pulled her in for a hug.

A hug. Richard hated hugs, and as a superhero, Robin probably hated them more. But he was hugging her. Actually hugging her. Richard never showed affection, never ever ever. And now, he was voluntarily hugging her and rubbing small circles on her lower back. Tingles rushed up and down her spine and she smiled involuntarily into his neck. "You're not a freak Kori. You're beautiful, orange skin and all." He murmured in her ear.

Pulling back from the warm embrace, she gazed up at him and wasn't ashamed to admit that she probably would have kissed him had Bruce not pulled up in front of Wayne Manor and ushered them out. Tugging at their arms they raced down the front lawn until they got to the large elaborate doors. Wooden and tall, black metal decorated the old door, everything seemed in place and normal. Everything except the green skinned, elf eared boy huddled in the corner.

"Garfield?" Robin's surprised voice didn't even match Gar's.

"Rich?" shock blazed in his eyes before he stood up quickly. "Dude. You're Robin? Dude! You're like my favourite kick-butter in the whole city!" he exclaimed loudly.

Rubbing his neck, embarrassed Richard felt the need to address the large elephant in the room. "Gar, why are you here? And more importantly, why are you green?" forest green eyes dropped to the ground and Kori heard the crack in his voice.

"I had to leave. I couldn't let them do any more experiments." He muttered.

Silence. Before the silence outside the door could grow any bigger, Batman thrust open the door and pushed them all in. "There's no time. We have to get ready." Running down the hallway he disappeared into a dark door.

"Garfield? Come sit down." Kori's timid voice led him to an elaborate couch and sat him down.

Despite not visiting in ages, she still remembered where everything was. "Tell us what happened." She prodded gently. Taking his hand in her own, she squeezed it comfortingly and waited for him to speak. "I was being stupid and ate some green stuff in my mom's office. Turns out it some messed up cure for some disease. I turned green and grew this fang and these elf ears. Apparently, my genetic code is unstable and because of that, I'm not completely human anymore. I'm a little bit of everything." At their confused glance. He crept to the floor and morphed into a jaguar, then a monkey, an armadillo, a cat, a hawk, and finally, back to himself.

Funnily enough, neither Robin, nor Kori were surprised. They had both seen too much to be shocked by anything anymore. Dejectedly, Gar plopped down into the couch and threw his head in his hands. "My parents…when they found out, they wanted to learn more, they had some great ideas-"his voice cracked and Kori rubbed soothing circles on his back. Instead of saying anything more, he just lifted up his shirt. His abused skin told all. Pin pricks and slashes littered his chest and back. Strange marks and bruises coloured his green skin and they could even see some black ink running across his torso. Kori covered her mouth with her hand and gasped in horror. How could someone's own parents do that to their child? A bitter voice in her head answered her morosely. "My own parents experimented on me." He whispered.

"Gar! You can't just let them do that to you! It's not right!" Robin exploded from his seat.

"What can I do? I'm their son."

"You may be their son, but obviously, they're not your parents."

Signalling at him to shut up, Kori took the lead. "Garfield, you're not alone. When I was young, my parents sold me to invaders as a peace offering, knowing that they would torture me or worse." Confusion spread across his face like sand swirling in the wind. "You see, I'm not a human either. I'm from the planet Tamaran, a warrior planet. I am the heir to the throne and when the Gordanians attacked, the only race that could actually harm us, my parents quickly gave me and my sister up to them in exchange for peace. Now the Gordanians are a terrible race. They have no humanity. No soul. They would have killed us, but only after raping and torturing us first. But instead, they sold us as slaves to the Psions, a race led by science and the pursuit of knowledge. Experimenting on me and my sister, led to the accidental gift of projecting solar energy into what I like to call starbolts, after my true name." Getting up, she floated into the air and did a few loops before lighting up her hands and blazing her eyes.

"Whoa…I'm sorry Kori." His smile was genuine and a friendship seemed to grow right before their eyes.

"Don't be sorry, if I hadn't been taken, I would never have come to Earth. Of course, I didn't know any of this until today, but I'm glad I'm here." She smiled then, before continuing. "We have a gift, we should use it. We shouldn't let bad experiences rule our lives." She finished.

Standing up, all three felt something change just then, like the dynamics of the three just shifted into something large and wonderful. Like they were suddenly more than just friends. But they were partners of tragedy. Both of them already knew Richard's grisly past and none wanted to repeat it. Rushing down to Batman, Robin asked for the news. "They're on to us. They know we're here but for some reason, they're stopping by Stars Enterprises." He informed them curiously.

"Why?" Robin asked.

"I have no idea, but we need to go over there right now. It's time we put a stop to this… Batman and Robin style." He grinned.

The next moment blinded the four people in the room before a dark purple figure appeared in the room. Twirling in the air a bit, she levitated back down and then stared in shock at everyone else. "What the hell?" she cried wildly.

"Don't look at us! You're the one that teleported here!" Gar cried out.

"Gar?" she asked suspiciously, before turning around, "Kori? Richard? Bruce?" she asked in order.

"How do you know it's us?" Robin asked.

"You have the same aura, no matter what persona you take on. "She answered.

"Rachel? How the hell did you just poof in here?" Gar asked energetically and a little fearfully.

Pulling back her hood, they all stared at the red chakra stone on her forehead. " To make a long story short, I'm a half demon and I don't know how the hell I came here, but I have a suspicion it has to do with Lust." Immediately realizing what she had just said, her amethyst eyes widened and she clapped her hands over her mouth protectively.

Four shocked faces stared back at her before she growled menacingly and they all looked away. Not bothering with the questions, she just read their minds before nodding understandingly and began watching them questioningly. "Well, why aren't we going over to Stars Enterprises?" she asked impatiently.

Baffled faces stared back at her and she shrugged non-chillingly. "Physic, remember?" she informed them sarcastically.

Shaking his head Batman put his foot down. "No. Only Robin and I are going. You would just get in the way."

Kori shook her head wildly. "No! I will go too! This involves me more than it involves you two. If there's anybody who's going to set them straight it am me. The future Empress of Tamaran." She declared imperiously.

Before Batman could open his mouth Raven interrupted him, "Gar and I are going too, and we're not leaving our friends." Her voice left no room for argument and before anyone could even try, she surrounded them with a bubble of dark energy and they popped away.

One second they were in Wayne Manor and the next, they were inside a metal room with a pom pom haired girl making out with what looked like a robot. "Dude!" Gar squeaked. "You sure you magiced us in the right place Rae?"

Raven growled. "First of all, when I'm in this outfit, my name is Raven, not Rae! Number two, it's called teleporting idiot and number three, of course I'm sure…Hey Karen, Victor." She greeted dryly.

Pulling apart quicker than a pair of cheetahs they jumped away from each other and stared in confusion and befuddlement at the rag-tag group in front of them. Using her physic power, Raven sensed more people coming in from all directions, slowly surrounding the building. Forgetting introductions, she pushed her mind into the six people's minds before her and sent all the memories of their each unique freakishness, including her own into the other's minds. One minute later, everyone was fully informed and typically, Gar was the first to speak. "Dude! You're like that awesome kickass robot from Smash Robots from Space 3 and half!" he cried out gleefully.

Victor just looked on strangely at the little guy. "You are one weird little dude you know that?" he grinned playfully and Gar grinned back.

Karen's wings fluttered impatiently on her back. "So when are those creeps coming?" she asked, attitude rich in her voice.

Batman tried to insist they all leave, but they insisted just as hard that they were staying. Neither of them knew why, but somewhere, in the blood pumping in their veins, they felt the need to be here. To fight. Fight the Brotherhood. Almost like…destiny, or fate or whatever you call the feeling in your gut that tells you to do something. Standing their ground they refused to back down. Looking at each other, they all felt the same feeling. The thrill, the fear, the caution, the elation, the feeling that they belonged, the friendship, the feeling where one goes beyond normal relationships and treads foot somewhere new. They weren't just best friends anymore. At that moment, the moment before the fight, they knew what they were. They were a team. And just like that, they were the Teen Titans.

* * *

**A/N Hope that clears things up for people. The fight scene will obviously be in the next chapter and I think the story might be finished soon :( maybe two or three chapters max. XOXO!**

- Puck


	13. Garfield's Magnificent Disappearing Act

**A/N Hellooooo everyone! Sorry about the lack of update, I actually wrote this one day after I posted chapter 12, but we moved and the internet didn't get back up until four days ago and then I went to visit family out of the country, but I'm back and I hope you like this chapter!**

* * *

Best Enemies Forever-13

Collectively, they all took a breath, breathing the same air, letting the oxygen flow into their lungs and spreading all over their bodies. Tensing themselves, they knew that this was stupid. Retarded really. What were they thinking? Why were they even here? Robin glanced at the red haired beauty floating next to him and knew deep down, that if it weren't for Kori, he wouldn't be here. Kori meant more to him then he could ever say. It had killed him all those years to watch her from afar, to insult her, to make fun of her, to break her heart a bit more each day. He was fighting now to end it all. To stop the evil that ruled her life and his. Maybe he was just being selfish. Yeah, he probably was. Truth is he missed her, and the only way to ever be with her, as friends or more, was if the Brotherhood was gone. Pulling out his Bo staff, he knew he wouldn't stop until they were all dead, or some lucky bastard got him first.

Voices echoed into the room and footsteps were heard clomping around. "Slade, why are we here again?" a disgruntled voice asked.

An eerily calm voice that sent chills down your spine answered. "Because. Silias Stone is the most prominent scientist of this age and he has plans for a new meta-human that we need to steal."

Vic's eyes glowered and he cracked his metal knuckles. "Not plans…" he whispered.

BOOM! Thick smoke flooded their senses and the teens sputtered and coughed, wiping their eyes thoroughly and trying to see. Shady figures captured their line of sight and they watched as more and more people came into the room. Gritting his teeth Vic glared into the nothingness and dared them to come out and fight. Slowly, but surely, the smoke cleared and they saw a scraggly hole where the door was and a large laser on a muscular blonde man's shoulder. What looked to be the leader of the crew raised his brow curiously. "Well, well, well. What do we have here? Two traitors, a slaved princess and some troublesome teenagers." He chuckled sardonically. "This is your army Batman? I expected better from you." His half mask was a burnt orange and his outfit was plated with metal and armour. Robin spat on the floor. "Slade."

Slade. The leader of the Brotherhood, he caused the world's most terrible crimes and horrors. Destroying whole cities, theft on theft on the grandest scale, identity theft, arson, creating illegal nuclear weaponry, not to mention he was a master of every single martial arts technique known to man and had an arsenal of weapons at his disposal. Yup, he was scary alright, but he was also going down. "You." Kori's nostalgic voice drew attention to her floating frame. "You were there that night…You killed him! You killed everyone!" she screamed in rage and pain. "I won't forgive you for killing my people." Emotion so deep in her voice, Karen couldn't help but feel her eyes tear just a little bit.

Slade smirked and was about to retort when a green bullet sped his way and punched him in the jaw with all her newfound strength. Flying backwards, he yelled painfully, before crashing into the wall in a cloud of dust and rubble. Standing together, they all knew. The fight had begun.

Yelling and jumping into the fray they all hit and kicked and fought with every ounce of strength they had in them. Justice. They were fighting for the people on Tamaran who died. They fought for the life Kori had to live. They fought for the people of Earth who suffered from their evil. They fought to bring justice to the criminals of the world. Springing backwards on hands, she thanked her mother once again for making her take gymnastics all these years. Karen pulled out the B's from her knapsack and concentrated. Feeling a spark she was pleasantly surprised when a burst of yellow electricity crackled out from her wrists into the shiny weapons and hitting a large hairy man in the chest. Bellowing in pain he smacked his fists in the air but she jumped backwards and smirked. "Hell yeah!" pushing her wings through her shirt she felt the freedom that came with the release of her wings and flapped them softly. "Dance likes a butterfly and sting like a bee." She sang, dancing around the same man before dropping quickly and kicking him in the head. "Mohammad Ali." Satisfied that he was knocked out she searched for her boyfriend.

Vic was currently fighting back to back with Robin. Punching and kicking he was hitting faster than ever before. Being half robot had its perks he had to admit. An attacker came at him from his left and while punching he was blasted back when his arm opened up to show a cannon. The man landed a kick to his side and he groaned in pain. "Dammit."

"Victor! Can you change that into a weapon of some sort?" Robin huffed from behind him.

Straining his eyes. Vic fiddled with his arm a bit before getting a satisfying BOOM! As a blue blast rocketed out his arm and hit the enemy that was trying to get Robin. "Nice!"

Currently, Robin was hopping around hitting people with his Bo and using his limbs to deliver painful blows to his opponent's bodies. Throwing a freezing disk at a lithe girl with amazing martial arts skills he fell down in shock as a green leopard leapt over his head and hearing a resounding thud of two bodies new that Gar had just saved his life. Turning around, he found a human Gar on top of an unconscious man. "Thanks." He thanked curtly.

Laughing he replied. "No prob dude."

Morphing into every kind of animal he could think of, Gar took out weirdoes left and right. Wondering if he could turn into prehistoric animals, he thought of a T-Rex. "Raawwwwrr!" he roared loudly and probably stopped a few people's hearts at the same time.

Roaring some more, he swiped his tail at some guys before downsizing to a Pterodactyl. Swooping down from the ceiling he grabbed at Vic with his talons and watched as he used his cannon to take out three short guys below. "Cool move grass-stain!" Vic cheered before going back into the fight.

Grass-stain? Meh, sure why not?

* * *

Meanwhile, Kori was busy fighting Slade single handedly. Flipping and punching, twisting and kicking, she loved the feel of the warmth of the starbolts on her hands and knowing that she was fighting for a good cause. Yelling a war cry worthy of her race, she flew at him and threw her green energy at the man before her. While he dodged the starbolts, he didn't have time to move when she came at him kicking and screaming. Putting his arms up, he grabbed her waist and pulled her down. Crashing into the ground she looked disoriented for a few seconds before her eyes lit up in a fiery emerald blaze and shot out beams from her eyes. Looking startled, Slade jumped back and went back into a fighting stance. "You are coming with us Kori." He growled. "We don't have time to play anymore."

Glaring, she pounced again only to be pushed back with an exploding disk. Crying out in pain, she tried to get back up but couldn't find the strength. Time slowed and she heard the tick of an imaginary clock in her head. She saw her friends. Raven, Robin, Victor, Garfield, Karen. All fighting with her…and Batman too. She knew she couldn't just stay down. She had to get up. She had to fight. She had to win.

Struggling, she stood up shakily and glared Slade down. "I will never go with you. Not unless I die." She whispered.

Sneering, Slade lifted up his hand and held up a small TV device. Curiosity rose in Kori's eyes and Slade's thumb flicked the switch. A feminine figure hung, suspended by metal chains, from the ceiling, hands bound behind her back, feet tied and expression broken. Kori's eyes welled with tears. "Koma." She whispered.

"Yes, yes. Your brother and parents are gone, but your sister is still here. And she will die if you do not follow me right now."

Frozen. Cold. So very cold. Koma. Koma, her big sister. She was gone, captured, kidnapped, it didn't matter! What mattered was that she wasn't safe at home, she was being held by a twisted evil man and it was all her fault! "Let her go! Let her go right now!" Strength burst through her like a dam being broken.

"I think not." He answered cruelly.

She had no choice. She had to go with him, do whatever he wanted, whenever she wanted. She was his now. Kori couldn't risk anything happening to her sister. Oh Koma, if only you had listened when I said you were in danger… she hoped she was okay, Kori would never be able to forgive herself if Koma got hurt…or worse. No! Nothing would happen to her sister, she would save her. She would! She had to. Nodding her head hatefully she bowed her head and silently followed him out the door, trying her best to ignore the desperate cries of Robin and Gar and all her friends as she closed the door shut, tears streaming all the way.

Shaking his head, Gar growled in anger. Fighting and watching Kori the entire time, he saw what had happened and he refused to let Kori be manipulated like that. He wouldn't let it happen. Think small. Think small. Transforming into a tiny fly, he zoomed out the room and flew as fast as he could until he landed on Kori's shoulder. Tiny as he was, she didn't notice him and he hoped it would stay like that. For once, Gar wasn't doing something without thinking, he had a plan…okay…so maybe it wasn't a brilliant plan, but it was going to work. It had to.

* * *

Robin watched in horror and misery as Kori was led away, defeat eminent in her posture. "Kori." He whispered sadly before blocking a swift left hook from a fat man with a beard and a driver's liscence hanging from his chest pocket.

Fighting and screaming, they tried to back away from the onslaught of attackers. "Fall back! Fall back!" Robin's voice called out.

Craning their necks they all glanced at their self-proclaimed leader. Running backwards and hitting attackers at the same time he rushed toward the hole in the wall and ran out. Following suite, the rest of them followed after him. Batman swore callously at his protégée before throwing a smoke bomb and running for his life. "Robin! You are NOT calling the shots here." He yelled viciously as they ran into the open air.

"This is my team Batman." He answered. "You have the Justice League, I have the Teen Titans." The Titans slowly walked behind him in a silent affirmation of his claims. The Teen Titans. Sure they were a bunch of teenage freaks. But they were more than that. They were heroes who fought to save the world. And their first order of business? A rescue mission for one of their own. "Batman, we're gonna go and rescue Kori whether you like it or not, so are you in?" Raven asked him in her typical blunt and cool manner.

Staring blankly at them, he spun on his heel, black cape rippling behind him. Slightly twisting his head, his eyes locked on nothing in particular when he answered. "If you're really a team, then this is your chance to prove it." They watched is hulky figure walking until he was gone.

Victor looked at Robin, who looked at Raven, who looked at Karen. "Wait a minute, where's Gar?"

* * *

"Now Princess Starfire, what will happen is you and I will board this space ship and fly to Tamaran. Using special alien technology we stole from the Psions in an effort to recapture you, we will get there in less than a few hours. There, you will be crowned Empress of Tamaran by your waiting people and your first order of business will be to extract all the oil on this planet and have it sent to Earth. "He leaned back in his seat as he drove the luxury BMW, "The best thing about your oil is that it's absolutely perfect, it has all the chemicals in it to create luxury gas. Already made. Its premium and its cheap!" he cackled coldly before glancing at his captive.

Kori was boring holes in the window pane and refused to listen to anything he was saying. She hated him with every fibre in her being. How dare he attempt to steal her planet's resources? They were hers! She was the rightful ruler! Her planet may be abundant in oil, but they didn't use it, it just lay there, beneath the surface, some though, used it for ingredients in poisons and as weaponry. They didn't have machinery that ran on gas and fuel like Earthlings did. Earthlings…since when did she speak like that? Hope was beginning to crumble in her heart and for the first time she thought of what would happen if she lost. Slade would win and that was unacceptable. But she was selfish. She couldn't sacrifice the life of her sister for the lives of everyone else. Kori knew that if she stood up to Slade, she could kill him and stop the terror he inflicted on the world, she could save her people because she knew that once Slade had all the oil Tamaran had to offer, he would take everything else. He killed humans, so why wouldn't he kill aliens? Especially troqs. A single tear slid down her cheek. Desperation and misery and anger and passion filled that tear. Made it heavy with raw emotion. What was she supposed to do? Everything was wrong and no one was here to save her this time.

But she was wrong. Someone was there and that someone was on her shoulder, currently soaked by her salty tear. Garfield was here to save the day. He was going to find Koma, set her free, tell Kori and hopefully kick some evil butt. Sliding to a halt, Slade shoved open the door and motioned for Kori to do the same. Grey and stony, the small building seemed to glower at them and Kori swallowed frightfully as she entered. Banging and screaming brought her to a standstill. "Kori! Kori! Get out! Get out! Don't listen to him! Get out! Kori!" Koma's screams caused Kori to shiver and she had to bite her tongue forcefully to keep from yelling back.

"Stupid bitch doesn't know how to shut up." Slade muttered. Grabbing Kori's arm, he dragged her forcefully to an open door. Shoving her in, he slammed the door shut and pushed her into the corner of the room. Four walls and tiny, the room confined her in a way she hadn't thought possible. Claustrophobia rose up in her and she tried to fight the feeling away. Shackles and chains were nailed crudely on the walls and her arms were forced in the metal cuffs that bit into her skin. Shining a brilliant white colour, the chains burned her skin slightly before settling down. "Don't try escaping; these chains are built to contain your kind." Without another word, he stalked out laughing all the way.

When Gar was sure he was gone, he flew off Kori's shoulder and transformed into his human form. "Hey Kori, don't worry, Beastboy is on it! I'll save Koma and then you can beat Slade up!" he told her happily.

Dull eyes stared back at him. Comprehension slowly dawning inside her irises. "Garfield."' She murmured. Her face shot upward and green met green as a flurry of emotions swirled in her mind. Gratefulness, appreciation, affection, friendship and a deep wave of thankfulness swept him in. Caught in the moment, Kori chose that moment to lean in slowly and gently press her lips to his.

Both knew that the kiss was nothing romantic. Both had significant others, or soon to be others, and they knew that the other knew that. Kori's kiss was just full of thanks and Gar knew it. Besides…Kori was a sweet kisser. Smiling softly at the alien, he told her determinedly, "I'll bring her back. I promise." Before morphing into a tiny fly once more to retrieve Kori's big sister.

"Garfield, please be careful." She whispered a soft prayer on her lips.

* * *

Swivelling around panicked, Raven's wry eyes widened in worry. "Where is he? He was just here a minute ago!" she yelled.

Karen couldn't pick up what kind of tone her voice held, anger, worry and probably a little bit of exasperation in there too. Oh Gar…what did you do now? "Relax Rach-Raven; I'm sure he's fine. He probably got lost or something, you know him." Vic tried to reassure the black auraed teen.

"No. He's not here. I can't sense him. I would know his aura anywhere and it's not here." A hard edge in her words cut the air.

Karen gave the "look" to Robin who smirked and shot it to Victor who grinned goofily. "You'd know it anywhere huh Rae?" he raised his eye-brows comically and grinned.

A black fist of energy suddenly shot out from the middle of nowhere and hit him straight in the chest. "Owww. Rae!" he cried out.

"This is NOT the time for this Victor! We need to find Gar and Kori before something happens!" she yelled fiercely.

Like a slap in the face, Robin suddenly realized what the hell was going on. "Raven's right, we need to move!"

"But we don't know where any of them are, how are we supposed to even get to them?" Karen asked, talk about a buzz kill.

Defeat slumped Robin's shoulders before they snapped up like a general in battle. "Raven." He breathed. "Raven, you know Gar's aura like the back of your hand right?"

"Well I wouldn't say thaaaat. "She muttered bitterly, a light blush on her pale cheeks.

"I don't care how you do it, just try to find him. Think about it guys. Kori gets kidnapped by Slade and Gar suddenly disappears too? Obviously they took him too. It's the only reasonable explanation. Find Gar and we find Kori." He finished.

Hesitancy appeared on his comrades faces. "I dunno Rob; it could be that he just left. Or les say the Brotherhood did take him. It doesn't mean that they all went to the same place. They have to have more than one base.

Logical as that was, Robin refused to back down. Deep down inside of him, he knew he was right. He knew for absolute certain that Kori was with Gar. And years of moonlighting as Robin taught him to always go with his gut feeling. Shaking his head he spoke. " No. They have to be together. Slade just picked up and left on his own remember? So when he took Gar, he would have no choice but to take them to the same place, he wouldn't have enough man-power to put them in different places."

Reluctant, they all agreed and watched in fascination as Raven levitated into the air and crossed her legs. Bringing her thumb and pointer finger together in concentration she breathed deeply and closed her eyes. " Azarath Metrion Zinthos." She chanted.

Slowly, a shimmering black form of Raven emerged from her meditative body and rose into the air. Zooming out the wall and into the city the Teen Titans waited patiently until amethyst eyes snapped open, brimming with knowledge. " I found him. He's in the Ravager Industries building downtown. But we have to get there now!" she said frantically.

" Why? What's wrong?" Robin asked worriedly.

" Well, I accidently went into his mind-"

" You possessed him?" Victor shrieked.

Growling angrily for being interrupted, she shook her head impatiently. " No. I just went into his messy, cluttered mind and found out why he was there. He went to save Kori. Right now he's trying to save Koma and we have to hurry before Slade drags all of them onto the space ship."

" Space ship?" now Vic and Karen were royally confused.

" To crown Kori Empress of Tamaran and claim the entire planet's oil supply." Robin muttered hatefully.

Realization dawned on Karen's face. " Oh my god. The bastard kidnapped Kori's sister as a bargaining ship?"

Nodding her head grimly, Raven turned to the others. " Come on, I'll take us there."

Curiously, Vic turned to the empathy. " Don't you ever get tired? I mean, you just teleported or whatever you call it, like what? Three times already?"

Smiling slightly she answered him. " Later on, I won't be able to this anymore. But right now, my energy levels are way high considering I just unlocked my powers. They're manifesting stronger than usual because they're still new in my body. But when I'm used to it, I'll have to work harder to get myself stronger to be able to do this."

" So…it's just like an energy overflow?"

" Yeah, something like that." And with a flash, they were gone.

* * *

Currently in Ravager Enterprises, Koma was busy trying to escape her bonds. Purple fire blazed in her eyes as she tried to escape her chains. " Arghhh!" she screamed painfully.

She didn't notice the small bug flying into her room until a scrawny boy appeared like magic on the floor. " Who the hell are you?" she asked threateningly.

" I'm Gar, I'm here to help you. I'm one of Kori's friends." He said kindly.

Suspicion glimmered in her eyes, but it soon died down when she saw the sincerity in his forest green eyes. " Well then? What the hell are you waiting for?"

Garfield pondered the problem for a minute. Apparently, Tamaraneans were super strong, so he doubted any of his forms could possibly overcome their amazing strength. So, he decided to use cleverness. Transforming into an amoeba, he prayed this would work, he crawled into the lock mechanism itself and sat in between the key hole and the lock. Biting his lip…or attempting to, he prayed that he wouldn't mess up. Think big. Think Big. Think T-Rex!

Koma stared wonderingly at the lock chaining her to the wall. Shuddering for a moment, it exploded in a mess of metal and gears as a dinosaur emerged victorious. " Oh my god." She whispered, awed.

" How did you-"

" I dunno." He shrugged. " I just did." A secret smile playing on his face. " Now come on, we have to get you out of here."

Anger erupted on her face and she glowered. " What? No! I'm staying here, I'm gonna save Kori." She declared resolutely.

Gar didn't want to contradict her, she was dam scary, but he knew he had to. " No. You have to leave. If you get captured again, we won't stand a chance. So you have to leave. We'll deal with Slade."

" You? And Kori?" cruel humour laced in her voice.

Curling his hands, he stood up straighter and stared right into her purple irises. " No. The Teen Titans will take care of Slade. Don't argue with me Koma, please, just leave now, I'll break Kori out." He left no room for argument and somehow, Koma knew that he would probably force her if she didn't comply.

" Fine." She muttered hatefully.

Floating in the air, she flew out the room at top speed and burst through a window, sending transparent shards flying across the room. Deep down, Koma knew Gar was right, her being there would only put everyone in more danger. But Kori was her baby sister! She couldn't leave her…but sometimes…sometimes, you have to love them enough to let them go.

Kori banged on the wall and demanded to be let out. She didn't expect to be answered when a heavy figure blocked her view. " Come. We're leaving." He ordered curtly.

Jutting out her jaw she turned the other cheek and proceeded to ignore him. A hard slap to her left cheek brought her out of that habit. Stinging wildly, she pressed a cool hand to it and massaged it gently. Wanting to cry out in pain, she held it in and focused on her purple flats. She didn't care what happened to her, she refused to answer him. She had to buy some time for Garfield. He had to save Koma, he had to. " When I speak to you, you will answer me!" he yelled.

Struggling to hold her tongue now, Kori grabbed hold of all the self-control she had in an effort to not give this cruel disgusting manipulative man. She hated him. Every fibre in her being detested him with a passion she had never felt before. With a spurt of creativity and stupidity, she swished around all the saliva in her mouth and spat it on his shoes.

Recovering from the teleportation, the Titans started running blindly through the halls, trying to find somebody, anybody, but so far, all they found were more empty corners and dead ends. Slowly losing hope, they suddenly began running in the right direction when they heard a pain scream coming from the corner on their far right. Panic sprung in Robin's face. " Kori!"

* * *

**A/N Yeaaah, sorry about the lame company name, I'm no good at that. Now I think I might get mauled to death for adding that kiss in but think for a second, they're friends and they know that they're not romanitcally compatible and Kori couldn't think of any other way to thank him. This is their first real battle and no ones ever rescued her like that before, I mean, risked their life to go and save her sister and stuff, it's still R/S and BB/Rae don't worry! Cheers!**


	14. Won't Let You Take My Planet

**A/N Hi everyone! I know you probably all hate me for leaving you guys for so long, but something really horrible happened to me recently and I just couldn't find in myself to write. But don't worry, the last and final chapter will be coming out soon and I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as you have the rest! I'm so sorry again! And please enjoy!**

Best Enemies Forever 14

Scream. Scream. ScreamScreamScreamScream. That was all she could do. All she could feel. All her brain could make her body do. Scream. Her body arched in agony and she writhed and tried to breathe but the air refused to enter her lungs. Rings of crackling blood red energy encircled her sending pain wherever they passed. Clenching her teeth she winced as she felt her teeth bite into her tongue and blood pour down her jaw. Tears streamed down her twisted face and she tried to express her excruciating agony by the screams and howls that tore at her throat. Why, why, why, why was this happening to her? What did she do?

"You will never disrespect me. Do you understand you worthless troq bitch!" Slade spat out hatefully.

He turned the dial on the infernal device in his hand and watched in morbid satisfaction and sick pleasure as her screams intensified in decibels and her body twisted and writhed in a pathetic attempt to ease the pain.

She prayed to God that it would stop. Stop the aching in her body, the lightening shocks that burned her skin, shocked her system, the burns like knives. She wished it would stop. That the constant screaming erupting from her sore throat would stop and she could sleep. Just sleep….

"Kori! Kori!" Robin's voice stretched out in worry and footsteps echoed down the hall and into her ears.

Hallucination. Just a hallucination, Robin was far away, she was only imagining things. But she was happy; nonetheless that the last things she'd hear was Robin's voice calling her name…pity she never got to kiss him…

The door exploded in a burst of furious darkness and the glowing white eyes of an enraged Azarathian met Slade's. "No on messes with my friends." She warned threateningly.

Before he could retort in protest, she thrust her arms back and shot five energy thorns from her fingertips, launching them in the air and embedding them in Slade's chest. Unfortunately, it dissolved but he winced in pain and swore. "Why you-"he was cut off by the Teen Titans charging at him with full force. Kori could only roll her eyes around trying to focus but only able to look at one thing for a few seconds at a time. She forced herself to keep her eyes open and stay awake. She didn't know what would happen if she went to sleep…she was afraid she would never wake up.

Unfortunately, despite the Titans best efforts, they couldn't pin him down. Slade was just too quick for them, he moved like fluid water, twisting and turning, throwing kicks and punches knocking the wind out of them. Their hopes were dwindling when a mighty roar brought the fighting to a halt. A magnificent feline beast stood in the broken door-way. Light hitting him on a sideways profile and his muscles rippling. Roaring loudly again, he broke into a run and pounced on the surprised villain. Digging his claws into his shoulders he pulled him up, only to smash him to the ground again. "Yo, Gar! That's some wicked stuff man!" Vic commented.

Robin launched to Gar's side and stared Slade in the face. Outrage contorted his face into sharp angles and fury, "Now tell me where the ship is!" he yelled.

Slade just smirked behind his mask before it popped off. Shocked faces stared at it and even Kori found the energy to gawk. Behind the mask were intricate wires and a single screen. Black flickered into a pure white screen and an image of a single brown eye took up the screen. An eye that they all recognized as Slade's. Silence. And then maniacal laughter filled the room. Crazy laughter echoed in their ears, one minute, and two minutes. "Someone shut that thing off!" Karen yelled.

Vic clenched his fist and smashed the screen, an extreme whine screeched before silence consumed them once again. Robin punched the metallic body over and over trying to express to fury that coursed through his body like wildfire in Nebraska. "Arrghh!" he screamed.

"Robin! We have to try and find the real ship! He can't go to my planet, he'll destroy everything!" Kori's cry pierced through the angry fog in his mind and reanimated him.

Snapping right back into action he started calling the shots. "Okay listen up team. No one is leaving this planet, not on our watch. Guys, head down that hallway and search for the ship, girls go the other way. Shout if you get something got it?" nodding, the Titans separated, running down the dark hallways.

Creepy shadows ran along the walls with, taunting them with eerie faces and claws tearing at the wallpaper. Karen was flying across the hall, kind of thrilled that she was in the air. Flying. She was actually-good to God- flying! Sequin bumblebee wings fluttered rapidly bringing her higher, higher, then lower as she turned a corner, then another. All the while watching as Raven calmly levitated her way and Kori frantically zooming trying her hardest to find that blasted ship. Karen knew Kori had a heart of gold but she was still a little surprised that she cared so much for a planet that kind of abandoned her. Kori didn't even know any of them, at least not very well, and she was willing to sacrifice everything for them. It was heroic, in a tragic kind of way, the kind of thing that made you want to curl up on your overused couch with the bag of never-ending popcorn and cheer the heroine on, hoping against hope that everything will be alright.

Yeah, that was a good way to put it. Now, all she needed to do was make it a reality. Metal doors blocked their path, heavy deadbolts and an intricate lock discouraged them severely. Karen banged on the door with all her might. "Damn it! Does the big creepy door NOT scream secret-rocket-sent-to-bring-out-destruction-lies-behind-me!" anger burned in her rare coloured eyes.

But Kori didn't even hesitate, without another word, she brought back her fist, eyes blazing green, punched the door right off its hinges. Five gaping faces stared at her in disbelief. Blushing, Kori brought her arm behind her hand and laughed adorably, "Oh ha-ha, I guess being an alien comes in handy."

Gar's gigantic forest eyes sparkled in admiration. "Dude! That was totally wicked!" he cheered.

Kori smiled cutely before twisting around to run into the room, the rest of the team following. What lay inside was everything they had hoped for and everything they had feared. Sleek and grand, an orange tinted metal rocket lay on the ground. Two thin, yet sturdy wings stretching from the sides and a black robotic emblem emblazoned on the borders of the ship. The Brotherhood of Evil's signs were everywhere they could possibly be on the ship and on the side were four missile launchers fully stocked. Eyebrows furrowed and a snarl spreading on her beautiful face Kori glared at the machine. "He will not enter my planet!" she declared vindictively.

Raven's eyes fluttered close before they snapped open, alert and ready. "Slade, he's here…over there!" she pointed a long grey tinged finger toward the long metal stairs leading to the door.

Running as fast as they could, the Titans climbed and flew up the steps and Gar thought hard to transform into a green, giant gorilla. Stretching his arms out, he prevented the door from closing so that the rest of them could slip their way through and follow the rapidly disappearing figure of their enemy. "Titans! Move! We have to reach him before he turns on the ship!" their leader's voice echoed in the strange corridor as they sprinted faster and faster, huffing and puffing as they went. Finally, they reached a wide room with a steel table full of controls and gizmos and gadgets. Everything you need to command a space ship. And standing in the middle of it all was none other than Slade, grinning like a madman, finger poised over a large red button labelled ON.

Growling, Raven's eyes glowed an ethereal white as she reached out with her mind and with her black tendrils of energy grabbed Slade's arm and shoved him away from the controls right in front of them. Jumping up and away with a backflip, Slade raised his arms into fists and cocked his head to the side. Bring it on. Snarling, Robin launched himself at his enemy and punched to the left while kicking to the side, Slade blocked the punch and jumped away from the kick only to get hit by a luminescent green starbolt. A punch in the face from Cyborg saw him tumbling to the ground just as a green tiger soared above the air, intent on landing on him. Slade brought his legs up and using his momentum sent Garfield flying through the air and crashing into the wall. Raven glared with and intense hatred and brought back her wrist. Dark energy shot out of her fingers like knives and soared through the air. Somersaulting out of the way, Slade found himself back with Robin as they continued to spar.

Currently, Karen was flapping above the fight trying to find a way to capture the villain. Even though Slade was outnumbered, the six of them still weren't experienced enough to actually fight and win someone who had mastered several different arts of kung-Fu and martial arts not to mention had the experience and strategy to win this fight. Thinking hard, she stared at the two golden B's she had in her side pockets. She had absolutely no idea what they did, but she supposed this was a good a time as any to find out. Pulling them out, she held them out in front of her aiming for Slade's head when a shot of pure electricity ran through her veins and overloaded her blood. Wings fluttering like crazy that electricity in her body manifested into the golden weapons and yellow sparks shot out and hit the villain right in the neck and knocked the man out cold. Staring down at the smoking weapons all Karen could mutter was an incomprehensible, "Whoa."

"Karen!" Vic's voice rang out as he ran at her for a hug.

Sweeping the African girl off her feet and into a loving embrace, "I'm fine, I'm fine." She muttered, slightly embarrassed.

"Yeah, I know. I just wanted an excuse to kiss you." He winked.

Kori beamed brighter than the stars and the sun combined as she ran at all of them and gave them each a tight and meaningful hug. "Thank you! I can never ever repay you for what you guys did. You guys are great friends." She murmured shyly.

"What? Friends? Girl are you kidding me? After this, we better be best friends!" Karen exclaimed loudly, a grin of her own on her face.

Raven smiled softly, "Richard missed you, you know."

Both teens blushed and looked away quickly. Some things would never change. "OH guys, sorry to break up this love fest, but I think the cops are on their way here." Gar pointed out the cockpit window and they all heard the blaring sirens getting louder and louder by the minute. "Dammit, we gotta leave guys."

Raven motioned them all over with her hand, calm and collected as ever. "Azarath. Metrion. Zinthos." She chanted, and with a flash of black and white, they were gone.

Appearing back in Bruce's mansion, the group fell in an exhausted heap and collectively took a sigh of relief. Everyone morphed back into their regular form and in the case of Vic and Gar, they stayed the same. Richard glanced at every person in the room with him and spoke. "So what now? We're all different and we all pretty much kicked some major ass today…" his voice trailed off as the group tried to find a way to finish the sentence.

"I got it!" Gar's voice rang out, innocent enthusiasm and joy ringing in it, "Let's be like Batman and Robin!...or well, since Robin's technically here…I mean we could always…"

" Gar! Would you please just finish your idea, or did your pea brain forget it already?" Rae's condescending tone interrupting him.

" Hey! I do not have a pea brain! I just think slow that's all. But what if we pretended we were just normal people, but actually we're superheroes beating the baddies!"

" One problem buddy. You're green, Kori's an alien, Rae's grey and has gem in her forehead"-" Don't call me Rae!"- " and I'm a robot." Vic pessimistically added.

" You are such a pessimist!" Karen reprimanded him, albeit rather affectionately.

" Still, Vic does have a point." Richard agreed.

A tall looming figure entered the room, " Yes, you are all different, but I could let you borrow my holo-rings for a while until you figure something out. The rings were created by the Justice League to help infiltrate enemy bases. They can hide your true identities as long as you wear them and never take them off." Bruce entered the room somberly and dropped four rings on the table before stepping out again, an aura of mystery, as usual, surrounding him.

" Holo-rings?" Gar asked, his voice small and meek.

" You weren't listening were you?" Rachel asked dryly, she didn't need to see him shake his head.

As each person took their respective ring, Richard stood up and motioned for all of them to do the same. " No matter what guys, we'll always be a team and we'll always be friends." Placing his hand in the middle of all them, he grinned. " The Teen Titans." Piling their hands one atop of the other they all pushed downward before skyrocketing upwards. " The Teen Titans!" they cried. Happiness and hope for the future evident in their smiles.

**A/N Yes I know, it was kind of short, but it was short and sweet ( hopefully) I'm gonna try and wrap it up in an epilogue next chapter and that will probably come soon believe it or not, considering exams and class summatives are coming up and I am the Queen of Procrastination and fanficiton is definantly procrastinating Till next time!**

**Puck's Favourite Girl**


	15. Smile

**A/N OMG! I finally finished this story! I'm actually sooo proud of myself you have no idea. This is the last installment of Best Enemies Forever and I hope you like it. It's really not much of an action chapter even though there are two villains who feature in it, it's more of a conclusion and a sigggggh this story is finally over. I am sooo sorry for the wait but well at least I finished it right? :) Enjoy!**

* * *

Epilogue

Glowing brilliantly, the sun's golden rays danced on the peridot green leaves of the trees swaying in the breeze. Boldly coloured flowers waved at young passerbies, their rich tones of gold and pink swirled with orange invited little children to laugh and smell their sweet scent. Picnic blankets all checkered with red, lay spread out on the fresh-smelling grass and the sticky honey and thick molasses were spread on bread. Soccer balls flew in the air as a few teenage boys practiced some new tricks, trying to impress the giggling freshmen who stood giggling behind perfectly manicured hands. Peaceful. That was the word to describe this scene. Happy. Yes, that too would be a good description.

Unfortunately, certain people find it their job to disturb the peace. They find it necessary to go against the law and take what is not theirs. Or change what should not be changed. Since the dawn of time the thin line between what is right and wrong has been teetering in and out of balance and with this dawn came the era of good. Where the villains of this modern age could not get away with anything as they used to be able to. This was the era of the Teen Titans.

"Bwahahaha!" a chubby red-haired man in a wannabe villain suit jumped out from behind the marble statue in the middle of the park. "Bow down to me worthless noobs! I am the Prince of Darkness! I am your worst nightmare! I am-"

"- A dork. A really fat, really annoying and completely useless dork." A dry, sarcastic voice floated above the statue and the people's eyes snapped up in relief.

Clad in a deep indigo cloak and shiny black leotard, Raven levitated onto the scene, arms crossed and expressionless. Short purple bob swaying in the wind, he red chakra stone sparkled dangerously.

"Prince of Darkness? Seriously? Duuuude, the Queen of Light totally kicked his butt in level 6454!" a little girl watched in fascination as a stark green hawk morphed into a short boy in a purple and black suit. Or at least, she thought it was a boy, he was a light green and had a cute little fang where his teeth should be. Actually, everything about him was green and he was a little scrawny but he made up for it with his wide toothy grin. If she remembered correctly, this was Beastboy.

Swooping in from above a gorgeous golden skinned girl flew in holding on to a devilishly handsome guy in a red and green suit with a swirling yellow cape. The beautiful girl landed and the crowd caught sight of her shiny purple and silver miniskirt and tank top ensemble with super cute boots and arm guards. Flowing scarlet hair and charming all emerald eyes had all the boys melting along with her innocent smile. Starfire was defiantly the apple of every guy's eye. Control Freak's jaw dropped and Beastboy could have sworn there was some drool. "Blahhhghdlalalal….Starfire!" Control Freak tried to sputter out, trying to sound manly.

Raising an eye-brow amusedly, the Tamaranean beauty turned to the boy besides her smiling even harder as she saw the crinkle in his eyebrows that showed he was mad. It was impossible to tell with that damned mask on his eyes. Somewhere, a fan girl screamed as Robin leaned back into a fighting position. Black and white mask, signature spiky hair and way hot bod, even Raven had to admit he was quite the catch. "Get your eyes off my girlfriend creep." He muttered threateningly.

Beady little eyes widening in fright, Control Freak raised his arms in a symbol of peace and slowly began walking backwards…right into the cybernetic arms of Cyborg. Who was, quite literally, a cyborg and proud of it. All metal and parts, not to mention a sly grin and warm eyes his girlfriend beside him chuckled. "What an idiot." Bumblebee was in a yellow and black striped outfit and fluttering crystal-like wings. "Give it up Control Freak. The Teen Titans are gonna bring you down."

"Psht. No one can defeat me! I am Control Freak….and when I win, I'll be sure to take the lovely Starfire as my girl."

Clenching his fist in outrage Robin snarled, but his anger was nothing like Starfire's. Eyes blazing with crackling green heat energy and fists swelling with star bolts she yelled viciously. "I am not a prize to be won! Titans go!" she zoomed at the super villain, intentions obvious as he whipped out his trusty remote and pointed it to the statue.

Robin huffed a little, pouting for two seconds, "That was my line!" he pouted.

Raven gave him "The Look", "Are you seriously whining about that right now?" Robin glared up at her but pulled out his bo all the same, launching himself at the 10 foot statue of the town's chubby mayor. "Well that's just great; you think the guy could stand to lose a few pounds." Cyborg yelled somewhat laughingly as he swung his sonic canon and with a boom the top half of the marble statue flew away in the wind.

Fumbling with the controls, Control Freak swung his remote around only to find there wasn't anything else that wasn't a tree that he could animate. "Uh oh." Swinging his had rapidly back and forth he bolted into a fat man's version of a sprint and was easily cut up with by none other than Bumblebee. Strapping a pair of hand-cuffs on him she smirked cockily. "You, Prince of the Dorks are now under arrest."

Beastboy just looked disappointed. "That's it? That was the huge battle you woke me up for? I didn't even get to do anything!" pouting like a child, he crossed his arms and glared at the floor.

"Beastboy, its 1:00 in the afternoon, normal people are awake by now." Starfire laughed.

"Yeah well we're not exactly normal are we?" Cyborg interjected.

Acknowledging the applause from the crowd, they waved and smiled before nodding to Raven. One minute they were there and in the next, a flash of black light swept the Titans away.

It had been a month since the Brotherhood incident and it had been a month of fame and glory. The municipal government of Jump City thanked the Titans profureously and rewarded them greatly. With them money they had earned and with Batman's help of course, they bought the lonely tower on the mini island off the beach and renovated it to be Titans Tower. Striking a deal with the Mayor, they would protect the city from anyone trying to harm it and protect the rest of the world if they payed for their expenses. So basically, the Titans were under the employ of the government but were pretty much going solo.

Unfortunately, once their parents found out, they all freaked of course. The only way they were allowed to even do the hero business was if they all promised to go to school and be good little boys and girls. So Kori, Vic and Gar all wore holo-rings and no one suspected anything until the attack on their school happened.

**FLASHBACK**

_"Ahhh lunch time. Best thing ever invented." Gar munched on his apple and enjoyed the fresh breeze playing with his hair._

_"You can't invent a time genius." Rachel snarkily replied, giving him a look from behind her thick tome._

_Victor squealed like a twelve year old girl staring at Justin Bieber when he pulled out his lunch bag to find a foot high sandwich filled with Montreal Smoked Meat and a little olive on a toothpick on top. Screaming, Gar backed away from the sandwich, a look of horror on his face. "What are you eating! You carnivore! You monster! You're eating me! You're horrible!" a wild and insane look on his face._

_"If I could eat you, I would." And with that grim remark, Vic proceeded to shove the sandwich down his throat faster than you could say ewwwww!_

_Karen rolled her eyes and shared a smile with Kori. Over the past two weeks, Kori had fit right into their group, almost like she was always there. Well, maybe it was because Kori and Richard were dating…but that was only a minor detail. Suddenly, a loud crash! Echoed from the school grounds and a cloud of smoke exploded from the yard. Six pairs of eyes snapped up toward it before they began running towards the commotion. A flood of students were crowded around a huge crater in the middle of the school grounds. A sketchy image of what seemed like a ship shifted in and out of focus in the thick fog. A smoky figure emerged from the unknown. Silver in colour with a stunning diamond shaped jewel in the middle of his chest. A square jaw and a seemingly black outfit but it was hard to tell since the texture of his skin seemed to be the exact same._

_Kori squeezed her boyfriend's hand hesitantly. He squeezed back harder. The silver figure seemed to stare at every individual face before locking on Kori's. Time moved through honey at that moment and Richard's hold on Kori's hand tightened slightly. Around them, their friends tensed their muscles and turned inward slightly to face their newest friend. However Kori did not move, she held her ground and met the fearsome eyes of the alien who continued to glare her down. "I don't believe it. I never thought there actually was someone like you on this planet. I only came to prove my fellow soldiers wrong." He smirked cruelly at that point._

_Quick as lightning his face transformed into one of hatred. "How dare you. How dare you bring yourself here, pretending you are worth this planet? You are a troq. A worthless troq how are you mingle with another species. Go back to your filthy planet troqie…or I'll just have to do it for you." He sneered then and hunched over slightly, fists up._

_Kori didn't blink; she just took her hand from Richard's grasp and pulled of the little ring on her pointer finger. Clack! The ring seemed to fall to the floor as though it was in slow motion. Little particles and molecules buzzed and flickered in the air around her until they fell apart revealing their Kori for what she was; a princess. Deep golden skin, all green eyes with different hues and tones, taller, leaner figure and a more catlike, elegant face. "I am not the one who does not belong here; you are that who is unwanted." She spoke regally and Gar vaguely wondered why she was talking like that before the strange man spoke again. "I am Val-Yor from the planet Vernathia and I am here to purify this planet once and for all." Without giving anyone any warning, the crowd screamed in terror when he pushed out his hands beams of red energy shot out at Kori._

_Faster than a viper, she launched out of the way and floated in the air for a second. "Starfire! OMG its Starfire!"_

_"Holy shit, Kori's Starfire!" kids were shouting and screaming trying to run away but still watch their beloved friend transform and kick butt._

_"Starfire!" Karen scrunched her eyes and her insect-like wings popped from her back as she flew into the air pulling out her golden B's. Starfire was distracted by her screaming class-mates and didn't see the red beam heading her way until it was too late. "Star!" Beastboy pulled off his ring savagely and closed his eyes tightly. With a roar he launched into the air and pushed his friend out of the way before the beam could hit her. "Arrgh!" he screamed._

_The attack seared his side and sent little white hot hooks tearing at his skin. Moaning he tried to look at the wound but couldn't continue when he saw the burn marks marring his side and back. Flopping against Kori whose eyes were streaming with tears she hugged him against her. "Oh Beastboy." Narrowing her eyes in anger, she gently lay him down just in time to watch Raven explode in anger. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" she yelled, throwing daggers made of her black demon power at Val-Yor._

_The blades hit him dead on, knocking him back on his feet violently and making him groan in pain. "You'll pay for that!" he growled savagely. Running, he charged at the young empathy but was intercepted by a glaring Cyborg. "Oh no you don't." bringing back his metallic fist he punched the offender straight in the jaw and proceeded to have a wrestling match with the silver man._

_Robin jumped into the fray pulling out his bo and slapping and hitting the man who dared to threaten his girlfriend. Beastboy moaned in pain and tried to get up. He couldn't leave his friends to fight this guy alone but he also couldn't move without being in intense agony. Looking down, Raven noticed Beastboy's wound and flew down to him muttering under her breath and healing his side with a faint bluish glow. "Now come on, you're missing all the fun." Beastboy leaned his head up to peck her on the mouth before heading into the fray once again._

_Touching her mouth, Raven blushed a little before commencing her chanting again. They all fought long and hard, but in the end, it was Starfire who landed the fatal blow. Channelling all her fury into one powerful shock of power, she launched it flying in the air right into Val-Yor's chest that sent him flying into his ship, denting the side and breaking the window's glass. Later, the police came around to pick him up and the six friends were left to stand awkwardly as the rest of the student body stared at them like a science experiment gone bad._

**END FLASHBACK**

So there you had it, the Titans ditched school, bought a place at 16, lived as roomies, dated each other, fought crime together and loved one another. Now, Cyborg and Beastboy would be seen almost regularly playing video-games on their big-screen. Starfire was either cooking monstrosities or trying to make everybody's day. Bumblebee sat around bossing people around or hanging out in the garage where Cyborg was working on the Titans wheels and such. Raven was sitting on the couch cracking wise-cracks and reading her gothic novels and Robin was either stuck in the Evidence Room or kissing Starfire. Well…everyone was kind of kissing everyone but Robin said he was trying to make up for lost time, whatever that meant.

Back in their comfy tower home the walls went red as white and red lights whirred around. Beep! Beep! Beep! The alarm blared in their ears and Beastboy groaned. "Again? This is the second time today!" he pouted into the controller as his car crashed into the railings of the track.

Cyborg ruffled the short teen's hair affectionately, "Awww chillax grass-stain, it won't be long 'till I'm kicking your butt."

Robin strode into the Ops room looking all dignified-if it wasn't for his ruffled hair and faint lip-gloss stains- with Starfire beside him. "Titans go!" he yelled.

The four other titans stared at him. Robin sweat-dropped. The four other titans still stared at him. "Oh shut up. It's not like you were never interrupted by the alarm before."

* * *

**A/N Thank you so much for everyone who read my story and gave me feedback. I can honestly say that you guys are pretty much what kept this story alive. The guilt of never updating ate me alive :) but I am proud to say that I am finished this story and I want to thank all my 44 reviewers, you all made me really happy because come on, who doesn't like a nice review? And for my 7000 so viewers thank you too! Well adieu everyone, I'd like to say I'm gonna work on Sleepover Confessions, but this new plot bunny for Eragon popped into my mind so I don't know...**

May the odds be ever in your favour,

- Avril


	16. Best Enemies Forever Rewrite Update

**Hello everyone. I'm sorry if you thought this was a chapter but it's not. I just wanted you all to know that I'm doing a rewrite of this story because when I wrote it, I was 11 and obviously it had a lot of errors and I feel like this story has so much more potential than what I gave it, not to mention I'm not satisfied with the ending. The first chapter is up and ready and I want to say that the new version will differ from the previous one as I'll be introducing new sub-plotlines and will probably diverge from the awkward transition from normal people to superheroes. That whole Kitten scene definitely needs to be rewritten and there were so many loose ends. I hope you'll all read my new version,**

**All the best,**

**Ray**


End file.
